Food price and availability in Solomon Islands during COVID-19: A food environment survey

Abstract

Background: In Solomon Islands, the retail food environment is an important food source, for instance, the dominant source of fresh fruit and vegetables for urban consumers is open markets. The effects of COVID-19 mitigation measures (such as restriction of human movement and border closures) in early 2020 placed food security at risk in many parts of the community. Of particular concern was the risk of price gouging in an already price-sensitive market. Aims: The study aimed to provide rapid and policy-relevant information on the pricing of foods in the urban food environment in Solomon Islands in the context of the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A vendor survey was conducted in July to August 2020 and repeated in July 2021 using a survey tool that collected information on type, quantity, and price of food on offer. Findings: We found price reductions among the majority of fresh fruit and non-starchy vegetables available. A trend of rising prices was reported for some other commodities, such as fresh locally caught fish. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the impact of 'schocks to the system' on food prices as a potential barrier or enabler to consumption of fresh foods purchased from urban areas – an important finding in a price sensitive market. The survey design was successful in collecting pricing data from the retail food environment during a time of external ‘shock to the system’. Our approach is applicable to other settings needing a rapid survey of the external food environment.

Introduction

Solomon Islands, an archipelago of around 1000 islands with a population of just over 700,000 people (The World Bank, 2022), is faced with a triple burden of malnutrition and high rates of food insecurity (Albert et al., 2020; Troubat et al., 2021). Over recent decades increased consumption of highly processed, energy-dense yet nutrient-poor foods have accelerated rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), while stunting, undernourishment, and micronutrient deficiencies persist at high rates (Andersen et al., 2013; DiBello et al., 2009; Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2016; Jones and Charlton, 2015; Seiden et al., 2012; Sharp and Andrew, 2021; Snowdon et al., 2010; Vogliano et al., 2021). The availability and relative affordability of imported processed foods have also contributed to the triple burden of malnutrition, exacerbated by a decline in local food production resulting from loss of soil fertility, pests, and diseases, cash cropping for export, limited arable land available, and climate change (Farrell et al., 2021; Iese et al., 2021).

The burden of malnutrition in Solomon Islands reflects the wider experience in the Pacific region and globally. It is clear that successfully tackling it will require strengthening policies to promote healthy food environments (Reeve et al., 2022). In order to develop policies and programs to address these complex issues, there is a need for contemporary and context-specific information relating to where food comes from and how it is sourced. This is especially important at times of shock to the food system, including the COVID-19 pandemic, where external drivers can cause significant disruptions to healthy food access (Farrell et al., 2020; Iese et al., 2021).

In Solomon Islands, the retail food environment is an important food source, for instance, the dominant source of fresh fruit and vegetables for urban consumers is open markets (Bogard et al., 2021). Although Solomon Islands had no recorded COVID-19 cases until December 2021, the effects of COVID-19 mitigation measures (such as restriction of human movement and border closures) in early 2020 placed food security at risk in many parts of the community. Of particular concern was the risk of price gouging in an already price-sensitive market, and potential impacts of closures or restricted operation of venues such as open markets and eat-in venues (FAO, 2023; Farrell et al., 2020; Iese et al., 2021).

The aim of this article is to present and analyse pricing data from a food retail survey which was conducted in three provinces in Solomon Islands in mid-2020 and mid-2021, to provide policy makers and other stakeholders with critical information on the pricing of locally produced and imported foods in the external (market/store focussed) food environment, with implications for food and nutrition security during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. A secondary aim is to contribute to global knowledge on methods and metrics for rapid and scalable food environment assessments, as there are limited tools available for rapid food environment and pricing assessment (Turner, 2017), particularly in low- and middle-income settings.

Methods

Study design

A vendor survey was conducted in July to August 2020 and repeated in July 2021 using a survey tool that collected information on type, quantity, and price of food on offer. In this survey, we defined ‘vendor’ as a food retail outlet (see Figure 1 for types of outlets included). The survey included a predetermined list of 82 different food commodities based on a validated list of most frequently acquired foods from the 2012 to 2013 Solomon Islands Household Income and Expenditure Survey, and informed by previous research in Solomon Islands (Eriksson et al., 2020; Farrell et al., 2021). The survey design drew on published INFORMAS (Mackay et al., 2017) methods for food retail environment research and procedures for weighing fresh produce was adapted from a World Food Program (Caccavale and Flämig, 2017) protocol. Food vendors were classified using a typology of food environments for the Pacific region (Bogard et al., 2021).

Figure 1.

Vendor-reported perceived price changes between 2020 and 2021 by vendor location.

Study survey, recruitment, and data collection

The survey was conducted in Gizo, Auki, and Honiara. The study recruited food vendors within the open-air markets situated in the urban centre, and shops or canteens in the immediate vicinity of the open-air markets. These areas were specifically selected as they represent the three main formal markets in Solomon Islands, and constitute the main source of food for the majority of the local population. Vendors were selected using convenience sampling.

The survey measured vendor perceived and market food pricing. First, information on vendor-perceived price changes was collected by asking the question ‘How has the way you price your products been affected over the last few months?’ The survey then measured directly measured price-per-volume information on the predetermined list of food commodities (see Appendix for full list). Non-packaged, fresh food commodities were each weighed three times per commodity using digital scales. This article presents the pricing information only. Additional information collected in the survey (published elsewhere; FAO, 2023; Farrell et al., 2023) included vendor opening hours and days, food availability, and information on where vendors sourced their products. Participants’ responses were recorded by the survey enumerators on tablets programmed with the data collection template using the program KoBoToolbox (KoboToolBox, 2023).

Data analysis

Thematic analysis was used to examine and derive the key points in the interview data on the effects of COVID-19 on food price. Analysis of pricing data was performed in Microsoft Excel to derive descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation). For non-packaged commodities, the average of the three weights was used to determine price in Solomon Islands Dollar (SBD) per kg. For packaged commodities, we compared package size of commonly used packages, to account for variations in per-kilo pricing for different package sizes sold. Foods were grouped using the Pacific Guidelines for Healthy Living (PGHL) (Pacific Community, 2018).

Results

The total number of participants (vendors) surveyed was 556 in 2020 (412 in Honiara, 103 in Auki, 41 in Gizo) and 652 in 2021 (442 in Honiara, 128 in Auki, and 82 in Gizo). Interview and produce weight data entry took 30–60 min per vendor. In the 2020 survey, four vendors did not consent to participate, and in 2021, one vendor did not consent to participate. All vendors who consented were included to participate.

Almost two-thirds of vendors (61%) surveyed reported pricing changes since the start of the pandemic. This was especially prevalent in Honiara (Figure 1). It was more likely for canteens (20%), shops (26%), and supermarkets (33%) to have price rises than market vendors (4.6%) (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Vendor perceived price changes between 2020 and 2021 by vendor type.

Between 2020 and 2021, the most commonly purchased ‘protective foods’ (fruit and non-starchy vegetables) decreased in price (Table 1). The pricing of ‘energy foods’ (carbohydrate-based foods) between 2020 and 2021 showed a mixed picture: starchy vegetable prices dropped consistently in Auki, and casava and sweet potato prices also dropped in Gizo. There was not a notable change in the price of white bread. The price of instant noodles was relatively stable. There was no consistent change in the price of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Table 1.

Price in SBD per kg or per specified package.

Food group and specific commodity		Honiara		Auki		Gizo
		2020	2021	2020	2021	2020	2021
Protective foods: non-starchy vegetables
Slippery cabbage	Mean	9.95	9.06	8.98	5.39	9.07	8.59
	SD	3.9	2.2	2.7	2.8	3.3	0.7
	n	57	26	5	3	2	2
Bok choy	Mean	17.03	12.48	10.79	9.32	14.74	8.47
	SD	6.0	4.9	2.7	1.1	0.0
	n	21	28	11	5	2	1
Fern (Diplazium esculentum)	Mean	6.01	4.63	5.63	10.04	6.70	7.56
	SD	2.4	2.1	3.0	6.7	2.1	0.4
	n	15	17	2	3	2	2
Tomato	Mean	15.23	12.04	16.61	15.67	31.35	58.14
	SD	5.5	3.8	2.4	4.6	8.9
	n	38	45	4	5	5	1
Watercress	Mean	22.72	14.44	13.76	14.93	11.44	18.02
	SD	3.5	3.7	0.2	1.9	4.8
	n	11	9	2	4	3	1
Protective foods: fruit
Banana	Mean	10.92	4.15	8.24	6.05	6.92	5.13
	SD	4.6	1.3	2.1	0.4	1.9	1.0
	n	23	29	3	3	3	3
Papaya	Mean	9.29	4.39	4.72	5.83	9.53	5.55
	SD	6.8	1.6	0.9	3.2	7.9	1.6
	n	46	38	4	4	2	2
Watermelon	Mean	6.16	6.55	5.72	6.55	5.34	13.45
	SD	3.3	2.1	0.7	0.5	1.6	1.4
	n	21	23	2	3	2	2
Pineapple	Mean	9.09	8.97	10.45	7.43		4.19
	SD	2.1	2.7	3.4	0.0
	n	5	16	5	2	0	1
Energy food to choose
Cassava	Mean	2.59	3.11	4.35	2.58	5.57	3.63
	SD	1.0	0.8	1.8	0.5	0.5	1.0
	n	20	21	8	4	2	4
Green cooking banana	Mean	8.90	7.18	6.62	6.17	6.27	6.99
	SD	2.5	2.1	1.1	0.3	1.5	4.6
	n	16	24	2	2	3	2
Sweet potato	Mean	5.31	5.55	6.40	6.03	10.19	8.39
	SD	2.3	1.3	1.5	0.7	4.5	1.9
	n	30	25	9	4	4	4
Energy food to limit
White rice (5 kg bag)	Mean		40	52.5	41.4	36	48.8
	SD			0.7	5.4	8.5	11.7
	n	0	1	2	10	2	5
Instant noodles (85 g packet)	Mean	2.4	2	2.6	2.3	2.1	2.1
	SD	0.3	0	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2
	n	15	22	9	12	5	27
White sliced bread – 1 loaf	Mean	11.0	11.7		7.5	9.7	10
	SD	1.4	0.8		3.5	0.6
	n	2	6	0	2	3	1
Energy foods to avoid: sugar sweetened beverages
Soft drink (325 ml), canned	Mean	4.9	4.9	5.7	5.3	5.0	5.0
	SD	0.8	0.3	0.70	0.6	0	0
	n	13	17	16	34	5	11
Cola drink (325 ml), canned	Mean	5.6	6.5	8	7.6	7.2	6.8
	SD	0.5	0.8	0.4	1.2	1.4	0.8
	n	7	19	11	30	5	9
Milk tea (3 in 1) 20 g sachet	Mean	1.3	1.2	1.9	1.4	1.7	1.1
	SD	0.27	0.2	0.65	0.2	0.48	0.2
	n	6	21	16	36	4	12
Body-building foods
Fresh reef fish	Mean	18.54	61.58	37.72	44.19		27.13
	SD	17.5	33.9	12.6	20.3		7.9
	n	19	11	4	7	0	6
Canned tuna (170 g)	Mean	6.8	5.9	6.7	6.5	12.0	5.7
	SD	2.8	0.6	0.6	0.6		0.7
	n	6	33	19	44	1	18
Eggs: pack of 10	Mean	32.3	34	38.3	38.6	35.7	35
	SD	2.6	0	1.5	1.5	2.1	0
	n	4	2	3	7	3	4
Imported, chicken (wings) (2 kg)	Mean	73.1	78.1	75.2	84.3	73.0	79.1
	SD	8.3	8.0	27.8	5.0	8.1	3.7
	n	7	7	5	21	4	11
Milk: anchor liquid (1 l)	Mean	10.3	19.5	13.8	20	15	17.2
	SD	0.3	3.3	1	0		5.0
	n	3	4	4	2	1	4

Green shading indicates price increase; red shading indicates price decrease; yellow shadow indicates no change or missing data.

There was a notable increase in the market price of fresh reef fish amongst surveyed vendors, especially in Honiara – although we note a high standard deviation (variation from the mean). The per-litre price of milk appears to have also increased amongst surveyed vendors since the start of the pandemic, as has the price of imported chicken wings. The price of canned tuna and eggs remained relatively constant between the 2 years.

Discussion

This study has contributed to urban food environment monitoring relevant to food and nutrition security in a food system that is vulnerable to external and often concurrent shocks, which include the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of mitigation measures (Farrell et al., 2020; Iese et al., 2021), extreme weather events, worldwide economic recession, global fuel price fluctuations, and civil unrest. The price changes seen in our survey reflect a complex situation, with drivers associated with government pandemic mitigation policy including an urban-to-rural migration trend (Iese et al., 2021), and the effects of decreased tourism and economic downturn (Farrell et al., 2020). The implications of price fluctuations are also likely to have a mixed effect, for instance, a reduction in market price of fruit and non-starchy vegetables would increase accessibility to this healthy food group for households reliant on purchasing them, but have a negative effect for the incomes of households dependent on fruit and vegetable market sales.

For urban households in Solomon Islands, markets are an important source of locally produced food including fruit, vegetables, and fish. For instance, national survey data from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic show that the dominant source of fruit and vegetables for households in urban areas was open-air markets, as opposed to rural areas where they are usually home-grown (Bogard et al., 2021; Farrell et al., 2023). However, since 2020, there has been an increase in household production of fruit and vegetables, which appears to be linked with a downturn in market demand (Iese et al., 2021). The increase in home production (in many ways a return to traditional food systems) has bolstered many households against acute food insecurity amidst the COVID-19 mitigation response, however, this has not been the case for all households (Iese et al., 2021).

The inevitable loss of livelihood for vendors and those economically linked with the fruit and vegetable value chain is important for policy makers to address. We note that women make up 80–90% of fresh fruit and vegetable market vendors (FAO, 2023; International Finance Corporation, 2010; Reeve et al., 2019). The price increase of fresh locally caught reef fish, especially in Honiara, was likely due to a combination of reduced supply following movement restriction and market closure. In addition, freight price has increased as fuel price also increased. We also observed and surveyed a higher number of market vendors in 2021 compared with 2020, and this higher number of vendors in the market might have added competition, which may have affected market price.

Pricing of key imported commodities presented a mixed picture – prices appeared relatively stable for tinned tuna and rice, and prices increased for imported chicken, although these results should be interpreted with the low number of vendors selling these commodities in our survey in mind. Price and availability of imported food is important to monitor as the diversity of national food supply (i.e., combining locally produced with imported food) has important implications for national food security. Reliance on local food systems alone does not necessarily meet the capacity for complete self-sufficiency in Solomon Islands (Andrew et al., 2022; Vogliano et al., 2021). Market vendors reported fewer price rises compared with shop and supermarket retailers which may reflect the shift to home gardening of fresh produce. In addition, the effects of shipping costs and delays on some packaged imported foods may have led to price increases in supermarkets and shops. The vendor reported trends which showed market vendors reporting fewer price rises compared with shop and supermarket retailers were consistent with the objective pricing data presented in Table 1, which showed price drops for the majority of fresh fruit and vegetables – the predominant foods sold by market vendors.

The findings of this study suggest that policy action to protect prices, especially during times of acute ‘shock to the system’, would be stronger if tailored to specific vendor type (e.g., those in fresh produce markets compared with those in supermarkets). The importance of fresh local produce for nutrition in Solomon Islands (Pacific Community, 2018) and the price fluctuations observed in our study, suggest that financial support for fresh food vendors and other small and medium enterprises involved in the supply chain (Farrell et al., 2020) would enable them to sell produce at a price that is affordable to the population while also staying in business. In this survey population, there is some cross-over between ‘formal’ (licenced) and ‘informal’ (non-licenced) market vendors (Bogard et al., 2021). Regulation of market fees and fair and consistent licencing measures so that they are affordable for market vendors can also contribute to both vendor livelihoods and the supply of healthy food to the population (International Finance Corporation, 2010). Finally, the apparent impact of transport costs on prices suggests that strengthening inter- and intra-island transport will also ensure availability of food supply during external shocks to the food system (Farrell et al., 2020).

This article has several strengths and limitations. The study used a novel survey tool which was developed based on validated approaches to measure and map the external food environment and as such also offers much-needed methodological advancement in this space. The survey is scalable, with the main resources required being enumerators, weighing scales, data entry equipment or software, and transport. Context-appropriate and ideally validated commodity lists would be required to use the survey other countries.

Accuracy of pricing data is likely to be greater for fruit and vegetable prices, which had far more vendors surveyed, than for other commodities with a lower sample size such as bread. This study reported descriptive statistics only. The survey was also limited to only surveying urban food retail-based environments, however, we note that cultivated food environments (home-grown food) are the main source of fruit and vegetables in rural areas (Bogard et al., 2021). We also note that price is just one aspect of the food retail environment – other important ones include availability, and vendor properties such as opening hours (Turner et al., 2018). However, in Solomon Islands and elsewhere, food price is an important predictor of food acquisition and affordability, especially in urban areas (Andersen et al., 2013; Farrell et al., 2021; Horsey et al., 2019).

Conclusion

This study offers policy-relevant information about food price in Solomon Islands over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our findings highlight price changes as a potential barrier or enabler to consumption of fresh foods purchased from urban areas – an important finding in a price-sensitive market. A key finding of this study was the decrease in prices of many fresh locally grown foods – which could increase the amount of protective foods consumed by those who rely on the retail food environment to acquire them. However, the price drops could have serious livelihood implications for vendors. Monitoring food price regularly and especially during times of crisis is important in order to protect food and nutrition security. The survey design presented in this article was successful in rapidly collecting pricing data from the retail food environment during a time of external ‘shock to the system’ in Solomon Islands. Moving forward, the methodology presented in this article offers a straightforward, low-resource, and rapid way to monitor the food retail environment in a mixed formal/informal setting, that could be applied in other low- and middle-income country contexts.

Appendix: List of commodities in survey

Category	Food item
Fruit	Watermelon
	Pineapple (small)
	Mango
	Banana
	Rambutan
	Guava
	Orange
	Mandarin
	Avocado
	Banana (yellow)
	Papaya (Pawpaw)
Non-starchy fresh vegetables	Slippery cabbage
	Fern (Diplazium esculentum)
	Watercress
	Pumpkin tips
	Bok choy
	Beans, green
	Tomato
	Capsicum – green/red
	Green peas
	Pumpkin
Starchy fresh vegetables	Cassava/tapioca/manioc
	Potato, sweet
	Yam
	Taro, giant swamp
	Green cooking banana/plantain
	Breadfruit
Canned	Best choice or edgell, mixed vegetables (420 g)
	Best choice or edgell, green peas (420 g)
	Best choice or edgell, corn (420 g)
Frozen	Best choice, mixed vegetables (250 g)
Nuts	Ngali nut
	Peanut
	Cutnut (Barringtonia procera)
	Alite nut (Terminalia kaernbacchi)
Legumes	Bean
	Split peas
	Lentils
	Cowpeas
	Wingbean
Coconut	Brown
	Green
Fish and other seafood	Fresh reef fish
	Fresh tuna (any tuna species except Island Bonito)
	Skipjack tuna (Island Bonito)
	Salted fish (fish stored in brine, e.g., tuna, mackerel, sardines)
	Solomon blue, canned tuna/taiyo (170 g)
	Solomon blue, canned tuna/taiyo (300 g)
	Waioka, canned tuna (180 g)
	Coral Sea, canned tuna (170 g)
Energy foods
Bread	White, sliced/loaf
	Cake, slice
Rice, white	Solrais (5 kg)
	Solrais (10 kg)
	Solrais (20 kg)
Noodles, instant, dry	Mamei (85 g)
	Reava (85 g)
Baking staples	Delite Nambawan flour, white (5 kg)
	Delite Nambawan flour, white (10 kg)
	Delite Nambawan flour, white (20 kg)
	Sugar, white (1 kg)
Cereals	Sanitarium, Weetbix (375 g)
	Kellogg's cornflakes (450 g)
Diary and milk products	Anchor milk, liquid (1.5 l)
	Anchor milk, powder, full cream (250 g)
	Anchor butter 1/4 Ib
	Meadow lea, 250 g
Cooking oil	Ezy cook/letizia/filma, vegetable oil (250 ml)
	KoKonaut Pacific, coconut oil (250 ml)
Meat, eggs	Eggs (pack of 10)
	Local, chicken (whole)
	Imported, chicken (wings) (2 kg)
	Nambawan meat, sausage (chicken/beef) (400 g)
Sugar sweetened beverages
	COCA COLA (330 ml), canned
	SPRITE (330 ml), canned
	CHEERS (330 ml), canned
	Soft drink (SOLBREW mango/pineapple: 285 ml bottle)
	SZEBA (orange/pineapple/lime/raspberry:300 ml bottle)
	JUICE (Fresho, apple, orange, mango, etc.:250 ml pack)
	Cordial drink, e.g., Tang 25 g sachet
	Milk tea (3 in 1) 20 g per sachet
	Coffee, mix (e.g., 3 in 1) 20 g per sachet