Pingelap Taro Documented, Collected, and Promoted

by Amy Levendusky

From January 5 to 8, 2007, Kiped Albert, Pohnpei Agriculture of the Office of Economic Affairs, Dr. Lois Englberger and Amy Levendusky of the Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP), and Welsy Hagilmai of COM-FSM Land Grant visited the island of Pingelap in order to study and promote the giant swamp taro (mwahng or mweiang) varieties and other local foods growing there. Milden Sackryas, Mayor of Pingelap, assisted greatly in the facilitation of this visit.

The Pohnpei Traditional Food for Health project, based in Mand, coordinated by IFCP in collaboration with Mand Community and the Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE), generated much data from May to August 2005 relating to Pingelapese food customs, crops and varieties. A visit to Pingelap was important for the Mand Project in providing further background material, as well as documentation of the traditional food system and promotion of local foods.

A total of 12 varieties of giant swamp taro were named, described, and photographed. The local name, any alternate name, stalk color, if stalk has thorns, corm color, corm size, corm texture, leaf shape, growth rate, and other pertinent comments were recorded.

Planting material from eight varieties were collected and brought back for planting in the taro genebank collection at the FSM Pilot Farm in Pohnlangas, Madolenihmw, a joint project of Pohnpei Agriculture of the Office of Economic Affairs and IFCP. These varieties were Simihden, Nehn Sehm, Nein Aikem, Nein Seria, Nein Silingden, Nein Pisop, Mweiang Mwas, and Mweiang En Inbarahw. Also one pandanus variety, Swaipwehpwe, was brought for the pandanus collection.

Around 100 adults attended the two community workshops, one of which included a womens group. The aims of the visit were shared, along with an important health message about how yellow-fleshed carotenoid-rich varieties of local foods including banana, breadfruit, pandanus and giant swamp taro can protect against diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, vitamin A deficiency, and anemia. During the second day, this important health message was given to 45 elementary school students at the school.

There is an abundance of local food on Pingelap, such as taro, banana, and coconut, but there are large stocks of rice kept and evidence that many families are heavily relying on rice (which has little nutrient value) as their staple food.

This project was supported by the Pacific German Regional Forestry Project, Sight and Life, Pohnpei Office of Economic Affairs, and College of Micronesia-FSM. Thanks are extended to Milden Sackrayas, Damaso Endere, Perdon Samson, Ibrahim Capelle, Erwin Kiahd and others in the community for facilitating and helping in the visit, providing the information used to document the different foods and providing planting materials.