Changes in spatial land use

The increasing trend of households relying on too few crops is due primarily to the underutilization of available land, rather than lack of land per se. Older participants in particular, believed that although population growth clearly contributes to high land use rates (and subsequently smaller subsistence outputs per household), an equally important driver is a recent spatial concentration of gardening on the point, close to the locus of settlement. The reasons for this are socio-cultural. Many participants emphasized that plenty of land is available for expanded established gardens, but that shifts in social norms limit its utilization.

To recapitulate, most gardens are located on established, inherited gardening land of which there are three main areas – the ‘point’, the ‘middle’ and ‘Valua’

(see Chapter Three, Figure 8). Contemporarily, most gardens are concentrated on the point at the western end of the island surrounding the villages. Most households also maintain, or have maintained in the recent past, gardens at Valua at the eastern end and in the middle. However, few households now utilize these due to the time and effort required to travel there and back⁵⁵.

Campbell (1985) examines in-depth the factors that have changed agricultural land use systems in Mota Lava since European contact. To summarise his work, pressure on land – particularly at the point – has increased since contact due to:

55 As with many of these assertions, this is an overall perceived trend expressed by the majority of participants. It does not necessarily apply to all households – during my time in Mota Lava I accompanied many families to their gardens in the middle and at Valua – many households do still maintain gardens away from the point.

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a) a historical shift in population concentration from the eastern to western parts of the island (culminating around the 1940’s), b) the introduction of coconut plantations (1940’s) and c) the introduction of new crops (1940’s), resulting in d) increasing rates of land use, particularly at the point, typified by reduced garden fallow. I identify two factors that further exacerbate the problems stemming from these historical processes in a contemporary situation: 1) changing kastom values that reduce incentives to use land at Valua and ‘middle’, and reduce incentives to clear land not recently established as gardens, and 2) an increasingly unclear land inheritance/allocation system that increases land use rates at point⁵⁶.

Participants identified that in the taem bifo, their parents would go to Valua and particular sites in the middle and stay for weeks at a time in bush houses whilst working on their gardens (this is also discussed by Campbell, 1985). This seldom happens contemporarily – people go and come back in one day, meaning that labour inputs to gardens in these locations have been drastically reduced and land is not used as intensively.

Campbell (1985: 199) indicates an “eastern movement in the locus of gardens” in the early 1980’s in response to increased demands on land at the point⁵⁷. My

56 Because of the sensitivities associated with land rights in Vanuatu I have chosen not to expand on this point in this research. To summarise the major issue, unclear land ownership results in extended family members laying claim to pieces of land as soon as it is left to fallow. The outcome is that fallow periods are often reduced to nothing and soil is quickly degrading.

57 Ten years later, Tapari (1993) reinforced this finding, identifying via questionnaire survey that 81% of Nerenigman residents farmed land on the point, 74% at Valua and 60% in the middle, from which he concludes that land at all three locations was used intensively by the community.

This runs somewhat contradictory to my findings via storian, that these areas are becoming less utlised. It is possible that the situation has changed over the past 17 years with increasing social issues. These apparent contradictions are likely to also stem from different methodological approaches.

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research indicates that this movement has slowed considerably. This may be because of reduced access to transport: Campbell (1985) notes that the eastward movement increases fuel expenses, indicating that households made use of motorised transport in the early 1980’s. Although the island currently has one truck, access to fuel is sporadic due to shipping infrequency (see Section 4.5.2.1 below) and fuel is now too expensive for most households to afford. The extensive hours and energy required to cover the 14km. on foot is a significant disincentive to maintain gardens at Valua.

The utilization of bush garden areas has also declined, taking this source of food production (an important ‘cushion’) out of the gardening system (see Chapter Five, Section 5.5.2). I have already outlined the contribution that stil makes to this trend. In addition, many people do not make bush gardens because of the labour involved. Bush gardens are located ‘antap’ (at higher elevations) in the middle and near Valua. They are generally further inland than the established garden areas and located in secondary forest on slopes and hillsides. They are generally not accessed by established pathways. Accessing them requires a full and intensive day of labour. I asked Samuel:

If there isn’t enough land at the point, why don’t people make bush gardens anymore?

I think it’s because they are lazy. Bush gardens are far away – it takes a whole day to go there. Also, it’s hard work at the start because you have to cut big trees because the land rests for a long time. With gardens at the point, they hardly rest at all, you only have to cut the grass. Much easier. We have a large amount of land still – bush land – but many people are too lazy to go on top to use it.

Reviving bush gardens and more intensive gardening at Valua was often cited as a potential solution to the space and population growth issue, particularly following the food insecurity following Cyclone Funa (Chapter Five).

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