Almost two months after a powerful earthquake shook the islands of Shefa Province, many coastal farmers are still struggling to clear and replant plots covered by quake-triggered landslides.
About 80 per cent of Vanuatu’s population of 335,000 relies on subsistence farming to make a living, with roughly a third living in Shefa Province.
While the earthquake has undoubtedly affected agricultural production, the earthquake’s impact on the capital’s tourist-based economy has been staggering. The impact has been compounded by aftershocks – as large as 5.6 magnitude and as recent as 10 February – continue to rock the island nation.
In Port Vila, the international wharf is closed to cruise ships, the main road’s Tagabe bridge needs urgent repairs to take larger loads and many buildings, public and private, have been assessed for damage leading to dozens of unsafe structures being demolished.
Port Vila’s once-thriving commercial district of shops, offices and markets used to be a drawcard for tourists and cruise-ship visitors. Now, it remains closed off, a ghost town of broken buildings and rubble. The only visitors are insurance assessors and demolition crews, along with forlorn-looking business owners.
A man stands inside what's left of his home following the December 17 earthquake and its many aftershocks.
Photo: Philippe Carillo/IFRC
Compounding impacts
And while the Government predicts a pick-up in tourist numbers, they are nowhere near what they were this time last year.
Dickinson Tevi, the Secretary General of the Vanuatu Red Cross Society, says the impact of the earthquake is compounding the sense of hopelessness many people are feeling, especially those who lost jobs and are still looking for work.
“We were all looking forward to getting back on our feet after the recent cyclones [Judy and Kevin in 2023] and the pandemic [2020-22],” Tevi explains. “The impact of the earthquake on the local economy is compounding the pre-existing situation.”
“After all we’ve been through, people are now dealing once more with damaged homes, unemployment and the difficulty of repairing their lives.”
As an initial step, multi-purpose cash grants of 20,000 vatu (VUT), the local currency, will be open to people who have lost their job or are have a reduced income as a result of the earthquake's impact on the economy of Port Vila's central business district. Before the earthquake, town centre tourism businesses employed a large number of people.
These grants, which equal roughly 150 Swiss Francs, aim to tide people over until a longer-term programme takes effect that focuses on helping people find or rebuild sustainable livelihoods.
“This multipurpose cash is an interim measure, something for people to spend on necessities while waiting for the recovery programs to settle in,” Tevi says.
Longer-term livelihoods recovery
The Vanuatu Red Cross is also working with government and relevant agencies on a long-term plan for sustainable livelihoods that will focus on teaching new skills and address nutrition, healthy lifestyles and recovery from trauma, the organization’s Controller, Augustine Garae, explains.
Families of the 14 people who lost their lives in the earthquake will also receive 40,000 VUT (298 CHF) from the Red Cross to cover funeral and other expenses.
Red Cross cash grants will also be available to people living in urban areas who used to work in Port Vila town. While the exact number of workers is hard to quantify, the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry [VCCI] puts the number at more than 900.
One of the biggest employers, Chantilly’s on the Bay resort, employed 72 people and only 12 have found work elsewhere. The iconic building has now been demolished.
Other businesses are hanging on, but it isn’t clear how long they can survive without a pick-up in trade.
A VCCI survey of 169 businesses found nearly half will be forced to close if the economy doesn’t improve. Even so, many owners are reluctant to close for good because so many people rely on them for a living.
“This would usually be our busiest time of year,” one business owner Ivan Oswald told the Guardian’s Michelle Duff. The owner of Nambawan Café, Oswald says he has had to reduce staff from 24 to 2.
Elsewhere, ingenuity has come to the fore. Vendors of fresh food and fish who used to make a decent living in the once-bustling downtown market have set up stalls in forecourts, parks and wherever they can find space selling handicrafts, home-made treats and discarded bric-a-brac in a bid to keep their families afloat.