A 1980 Attempt at Reviving Ancient Irrigation Practices in the Pacific: Rationale, Failure, and Success

The author was project leader on an attempt to revive ancient irrigation practices on Aneityum Island (Vanuatu, S.Pacific) in 1980, based on his archaeological and ethno archaeological research on the island. Here he tries to reconstruct the context and his rationale for instigating such a project. While successful in a technical senseabandoned irrigation systems were indeed brought back into use as plannedthe project was set up in the absence of a defined market and marketing policy. Inevitably it soon collapsed when the taro that was produced remained unsold. But all was not lost after all and a seed was sown. Recent reports from participants in the original project suggest that the ancient techniques that were re-taught to a wide section of the Islands community in 1980 have not been forgotten. These productive techniques are increasingly being reapplied on Aneityum in a time of rapid population growth.