Editing Nauru (section)

==Food, farming, and diet==
=== Plants and farming ===
Historically, Indigenous Nauruans kept household gardens that provided much of the food that they needed through [[Subsistence agriculture|subsistence farming]], with the most common food plants including coconuts, [[breadfruit]], bananas, [[pandanus]], [[papaya]], and [[guava]]s.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Thaman |first=Randolph |date=1992 |title=Vegetation of Nauru and the Gilbert Islands: Case Studies of poverty, Degradation, Disturbance, and Displacement |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/75dd4299-6eed-4e55-b9ee-c3949bf92cdb/content |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=128–158 |journal=Pacific Science |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=6 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606052020/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/75dd4299-6eed-4e55-b9ee-c3949bf92cdb/content |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of the large immigrant population that would work in the phosphate mines, there were many types of fruits and vegetables grown that were staples in those countries as well.<ref name=":6" /> The soil in Nauru was very rich on what citizens call the "Topside", which is the raised phosphate plateau where the phosphate is mined from, and it was extremely fertile and great for growing crops.<ref name=":6" /> However, the area where most Nauruans live now, on the coastal ring on the island that hasn't been mined, the soil quality is among the poorest in the world, as it is shallow, alkaline, and has the coarse texture of the coral that surrounds it.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Morrison |first1=R.J. |last2=Manner |first2=H.I. |date=2005 |title=Pre-Mining Pattern of Soils on Nauru, Central Pacific |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10599049.pdf |journal=Pacific Science |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=523–540 |doi=10.1353/psc.2005.0050 |s2cid=45416184 |via=University of Hawai'i Press |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=29 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129211111/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10599049.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Clifford |first1=Martin J. |last2=Ali |first2=Saleem H. |last3=Matsubae |first3=Kazuyo |date=April 2019 |title=Mining, land restoration and sustainable development in isolated islands: An industrial ecology perspective on extractive transitions on Nauru |journal=Ambio |language=en |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=397–408 |doi=10.1007/s13280-018-1075-2 |issn=0044-7447 |pmc=6411803 |pmid=30076524}}</ref> In 2011, just 13% of households maintained a garden or were involved in growing crops.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Nauru (NRU) - Demographics, Health & Infant Mortality |url=https://data.unicef.org/country/nru/ |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=UNICEF DATA |language=en-US |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208161537/https://data.unicef.org/country/nru/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Most of the soil that was on Nauru is now gone because of phosphate-mining activities, leaving people to import the soil that they need.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" /> Ethnobotanical studies have indicated that the reduction in the types of plants that can be grown due to phosphate mining has significantly impacted the connection that Indigenous Nauruans feel to the land, as plants are a large part of their cultural identity and have many uses in their lives, with each plant having an average of seven uses within Pacific Island cultures.<ref name=":6" />

=== Food ===
[[File:Fishing on Nauru.jpg|thumb|Fishing in Buada Lagoon, Nauru in 1938]]
For Nauru residents today, all food must also be imported because of the loss of 90% of arable land due to phosphate mining, leaving people with a diet of mainly processed foods, such as rice and sugar.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zhou |first=Charlotte |title=Nauru: The Phantom Island of the Pacific |url=https://thesciencesurvey.com/spotlight/2022/07/25/nauru-the-phantom-of-the-pacific/ |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=The Science Survey |archive-date=1 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001073915/https://thesciencesurvey.com/spotlight/2022/07/25/nauru-the-phantom-of-the-pacific/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Though residents are trying to salvage the soil that they can, some researchers speculate that there will be no regeneration of soils even after the mining ceases.<ref name=":7" /> The country's dependence on processed and imported foods along with "cultural, historical, and social factors" have greatly affected the health of its citizens.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Cardno Emerging Markets |date=April 2017 |title=Nauru: Port Development Project: Poverty, Social and Gender Assessment |url=https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-documents/48480/48480-001-sprss-en_0.pdf |journal=Asian Development Fund |issue=Project Number: 48480 |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121142144/https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/project-documents/48480/48480-001-sprss-en_0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite having all food imported, the Household and Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) conducted for the year of 2012–2013 found that Nauruans have a food poverty incidence rate of 0, based on the Food Poverty Line (FPL) which "includes a daily intake of 2,100 calories per adult per day."<ref name=":10" />

=== Non-food basic needs ===
While the HIES found that Nauru is doing well in terms of food poverty, 24% of the population and 16.8% of households are below the basic needs (clothing, shelter, education, transport, communication, water, sanitation and health services) poverty line.<ref name=":10" /> This is the worst poverty index of all Pacific nations.<ref name=":10" /> In 2017, half of Nauruans were living on US$9,000 a year (approx. A$11,700 a year). Water resources are extremely limited, with the island supplying enough for 32 liters of freshwater per person per day despite the [[World Health Organization|WHO]]'s recommendation of 50 liters per person per day.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Environment |first=U. N. |date=2017-09-16 |title=Nauru – National Report for Third International Conference |url=http://www.unep.org/resources/report/nauru-national-report-third-international-conference |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=UNEP – UN Environment Programme |language=en |archive-date=15 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215233213/https://www.unep.org/resources/report/nauru-national-report-third-international-conference |url-status=live }}</ref> Much of the groundwater has been contaminated by mining runoff, toilets, and dumping of other commercial and household wastes, causing Nauruans to rely on imported water, the price of which can vary as it is closely tied to fuel prices for its delivery, and rainfall storage.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":5" /> Access to sanitation facilities is restricted with just 66% of residents having access to reliable toilets, and [[open defecation]] is still practiced by 3% of the population.<ref name=":5" /> Schools are frequently forced to close because they do not have reliable toilets or drinking water for students to use.<ref name=":5" /> There is a long-standing [[truancy]] problem, and accessibility of education for refugee and asylum-seeking children, as well as for disabled children, remain areas of concern for Nauru's education sector.<ref name=":5" />