The Vanuatu Department of Food and Security told ABC news that most of the coconuts have been felled, and the banana crop has been completely wiped out. Fruit trees have been stripped, including citrus and avocados, and root vegetables have been flooded or uprooted. For locals sourcing food to eat is now a huge difficulty, 80% of Vanuatu (around 200 000 people) is a subsistence population, and President Baldwin Lonsdale has told the AFP that emergency food aid is needed ‘now’, and much of the development that had taken place in recent years has been ‘wiped out’.
Even more urgent than the need for food aid is fresh water supplies, as the clean up begins. Early on Saturday the islands were lashed by 300km/hour winds and heavy rainfall, which destroyed most houses and infrastructure, killed at least 24 people with more unconfirmed deaths suspected, and wiped out livestock and fisheries. In terms of farming and agriculture, it is thought that the trees will be able to bounce back within 2-3 years, however devastation to the coral reefs and infrastructure could take much longer to overcome.
Communication within the area is difficult with more than 60 islands making up the archipelago, but the UN presence in Vanuatu has confirmed at least 3300 people have been displaced. It could still be some days before the death toll from the more remote islands is known. The question remains what role climate change might have played in the devastating impact the cyclone had, and the agriculture sector in particular bears the brunt of such damage.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has revealed that between 2003 and 2013 the agriculture sector bore $70bn in costs from cyclones, tsunamis, drought, floods and storms.
For more information
To view aerial photos of the before and after scenes, visit the BBC website
Donations towards the delivery of food aid and rebuilding support can be given via Unicef, Oxfam or Care, however the public is warned to be aware that scammers have been trying to cash in on the disaster.