Food in Vanuatu

Food culture in Vanuatu is often expressed through local terms such as kakae for food and Gudfala Kakae for healthy food. Households may obtain food from their own gardens, coastal fishing, markets, roadside or village stalls, shops, restaurants, cafés, hotels, bungalows and nakamal venues. A nakamal is a customary gathering place that may also serve kava and simple snacks. Access is therefore shaped by land, fishing grounds, cash income, season, weather, transport and storage capacity. Common local foods include taro, yam, manioc or cassava, kumala, green banana, plantain, breadfruit, coconut, island cabbage, fruit, fish, seafood, pork, chicken, beef and eggs. Rice, noodles, flour, sugar and tinned foods supplement local production and are especially significant where transport, harvests or cash resources limit household choices. Outer-island diets are more closely tied to gardens and seafood, while urban households depend more on markets, cash purchases and imported foods. Roots and other staple foods are commonly cooked with coconut cream, steamed, baked or prepared with banana leaves and hot stones. Laplap combines grated taro, yam or cassava with coconut cream and is slow-cooked under hot stones. Simboro consists of leaf rolls filled with grated roots and coconut or coconut milk. Tuluk combines cassava with seasoned meat and may be steamed or baked. Bunia uses an earth oven and is associated with larger shared meals. Other familiar foods include Tanna soup, nangai, fresh fruit, coconut, grilled fish, lobster and coconut crab. Recipes and preparation methods vary by island, household and occasion. The Port Vila Central Market, Luganville and Lenakel are major market and prepared-food centres. Market food stalls and lunchtime vendors can offer lower-cost local meals than tourist-oriented dining, but availability and prices change with season, weather and inter-island transport. In the Port Vila Central Market survey, March 2026 showed a 37% decrease in overall supply and a 27% increase in average prices compared with the previous quarter. Staple supply fell by 10% and weighted staple prices rose by 7%. These figures cover selected produce in Port Vila rather than all of Vanuatu, and the survey uses older household and agriculture weights, so they are not a national price tariff. Vanuatu National Statistics Office data for 2019–20 indicate that food accounted for about 60% of household consumption expenditure and about 70% for the lowest expenditure group. Apparent consumption was approximately 2,760 kilocalories per person per day, but this measures food available for consumption rather than individual dietary intake. Roots, tubers and plantain supplied about half of calories from household production, while cereals supplied about 45% of purchased calories. These figures describe a national baseline rather than the diet of every island or household. There is no identified national entitlement to a fixed food quantity or price, and no national school-meal programme was identified. Families and caregivers usually finance school food, while local and international initiatives may support vulnerable children. The Healthy Vanuatu School Food Guidelines from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health promote starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, and protein. They encourage local healthy snacks, prohibit sugar-sweetened drinks in pre-primary and primary settings, and promote water, fresh coconut water or plain milk. School cooks and caterers need a Food Safety Certificate, and Farm-to-School activity has operated since 2019 in Vanua Lava. Food businesses and public food preparation are regulated under the Food (Control) Act [Cap 228] and the Food (Control) Regulation 2007. Food offered for sale or consumption must not be unfit, adulterated or prepared in insanitary conditions. The Ministry of Health's Environmental Health, Health Standards and Inspection service, known as EHHSI, inspects food premises, shops and kava bars and can authorize inspections or analyses. An improvement notice can be followed by a prohibition notice and closure where risks are not corrected. Food poisoning must be reported, and food-service staff require a Food Safety Certificate. Imported food must be declared and comply with biosecurity requirements. Fresh fruit and vegetables, raw nuts, spices, herbs, meat, eggs, seafood, dairy products and cooked or preserved foods may require controls, while meat, seafood and dairy generally require a provisional import permit. Commercial quantities may require additional permits, which should be obtained before shipment. Non-compliant consignments may be confiscated or destroyed. Fisheries controls and the Seafood Verification Agency also apply to seafood imports and trade. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity, its Agriculture Department, the Vanuatu Fisheries Department, Biosecurity Vanuatu, the Ministry of Health, the Vanuatu National Statistics Office and provincial or local authorities each contribute to the food system. Local root crops can support resilience against tropical pests and cyclones. Current policy priorities include nutritious local foods, school feeding, root-crop value chains, improved peeling and packaging, ready-to-eat products, outer-island storage, inter-island shipping, sustainable fish-stock management, community coastal management, aquaculture, coconut and cacao intercropping, and biosecurity. These measures support food security, but their availability and implementation differ across islands.