Tiny Nauru struggles with cost of food

[B]WELLINGTON, New Zealand [/B](RNZI/PIR)—The reliance on imported foods is taking its toll on Nauru.

Nauru is an island that has long been struggling financially, and with food imports up to 90 percent the strain on its people is taking an increased toll.

The Fisheries representative Ross Cain says rice, which is the staple cereal, has risen from 48 dollar to 53 dollars for a 20-kilogram bag

“Most of these people now are unable to afford healthy food especially vegetables and fruits because those have increased in costs, we’ve no had to rely on fish mainly and other root crops that we are able to grow in Nauru.”

However, Cain says the government is looking at measures like increasing the wages, and encouraging locals to produce their own vegetables, raising pigs and rely more on fish.