LocationsBuilding Resilience Through Evidence: How SIIVA Strengthens Decision Making in Solomon Islands
May 3, 2026
Imagine for a moment that you are forced to make a decision without any data or evidence to support you. A doctor making a diagnosis without test results, or a builder constructing without measurements.
Consider this in the context of development within your local community. Without consistent, reliable and comparable data, it becomes incredibly difficult for communities and leaders to prioritise and plan targeted, risk-informed and cost‑effective responses to the development challenges so many Pacific communities face.
In Solomon Islands, where approximately 65 percent of the population live within one kilometre of the coast, the intensifying impacts of climate change directly affect livelihoods, food security, health, and ecosystems on a daily basis. Yet without the right data, communities and leaders are forced to make decisions without always having the full picture.
To address this challenge, Solomon Islands is advancing strategic reforms to strengthen evidence-based planning and decision making that embeds climate change and disaster risk, including environmental protection and management, across all development initiatives.
At the policy level, this includes the development of the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) 2023–2032, the Long‑Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LT‑LEDS), and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP).
The Solomon Islands Integrated Vulnerability Assessment (SIIVA) has been used to inform the NAP development. It is now being implemented by Solomon Islands Government as a critical tool for strengthening understanding of local level vulnerabilities and prioritising necessary adaptation action.
What is SIIVA?
SIIVA is an integrated, community‑level vulnerability and adaptation assessment designed by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) through its Climate Change Division, based on an initial methodology developed by the University of the South Pacific. Solomon Islands Government have continued to refine the methodology in partnership with, non-government organisations, church-based organisations, and development partners. Data collection teams travel to communities and undertake participatory assessments across a multi-sectoral vulnerabilities’ framework. The SIIVA goes beyond data collection to provide structured, decision‑ready insights on how climate change and disaster affect people, land, resources, services, and institutions. Data collection is underway across all nine provinces, led by MECDM and partners, with growing momentum and interest.
CCD staff identifying and rating the top 5 issues for Gnulahage Community in Isabel Province.
Linking SIIVA to agriculture, nutrition, and local economies
MECDM, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) and with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Governance for Resilient Development in the Pacific (Gov4Res) project, has tested how SIIVA can inform sectoral planning and budgeting. In six MAL‑identified sites, SIIVA data has been used to surface priority risks and define localised adaptation needs for the agriculture sector.
This work directly complements the MAL Model Farm Program, piloted across five provinces and six sites. These sites were selected using national health and nutrition indicators such as high child stunting and diet‑related disease. The integrated vulnerability assessment process also supports these priority locations, by ensuring that agricultural interventions respond to the actual risk profile of each community rather than relying on generic or assumed vulnerabilities.
Youth Focus Group Discussion in Ririgomana, Western Province.
MAL model farms serve as:
- Demonstration hubs for climate‑smart and nutrition‑sensitive agriculture.
- Platforms for farmer extension, peer‑to‑peer learning, and knowledge exchange.
- Entry points for testing integrated measures such as water security, soil health, pest and disease management, diversified cropping, and post‑harvest practices.
A SIIVA assessment in Mile Six (Western Province) identified three binding constraints: water insecurity, pest and disease pressures, and soil degradation. All of these undermine farm productivity and extension outcomes. Based on these findings, MAL and the Western Provincial Government have committed investments to rehabilitate the agriculture demonstration site, reinforcing Mile Six at Ghizo Island as a provincial training and learning hub.
This is a tangible example of evidence driving budget decisions and improving service delivery where it matters most.
Michael Tanisapa, Acting Director for the Department of Extension in the Ministry of Agriculture emphasised that “the SIIVA tool is very important for us in agriculture because it provides integrated information that helps us make informed decisions for planning, budgeting, and implementing activities. It adds value by addressing climate impacts and ensuring interventions are more sustainable and evidence based.”
A female staff contributing to the discussion at Mile Six Farm, Ghizo Island in Western Province.
What SIIVA achieves in practice
The partnership between MECDM and MAL has enabled data to be collected across six sites and analysis undertaken to target the identified vulnerabilities through agricultural interventions. This is informing practical improvements in how communities farm, plan, and prepare for climate risks.
Key outcomes include:
Training in Climate-Smart Farming
Farmers learn how to grow crops that survive droughts and saltwater intrusion, save water, and protect soil.
Mixing Traditional and Scientific Knowledge
Communities use combined practices of traditional knowledge like food preservation and traditional farming cycles together with modern techniques such as agroforestry and crop rotation.
Disaster Preparedness and Early Warnings
SIIVA data helps communities to identify and prepare for floods, pests, diseases, and droughts.
Access to Climate Funding
With the resulting data and information from the IVA, communities and leaders can apply for funds to support farmers’ capacity building training, school programs, and sustainable farming projects.
Better Food Security Policies
SIIVA data informs national and sub-national as well as community-based food security strategies. This helps people understand how climate change affects food and what can be done to improve farming.
Overall, SIIVA is helping drive evidence‑based planning and implementation across community, district, provincial, and national levels. As described by Malachi Bate’e, Chief Resilience Officer in the Climate Change Division, “the SIIVA assessments are forming the evidence base for our National Adaptation Plan. They tell us where the real risks are and where to prioritise action.”
Why this matters for small island states
“SIIVA has become one of our most valuable tools. It allows us to clearly identify hazards, exposure levels, and vulnerabilities community by community. For the first time, we have a consistent and structured approach to assessing vulnerability across Solomon Islands,” said Mr. Bate’e.
As climate change intensifies and countries, such as Solomon Islands are faced with increasingly urgent decisions to protect their citizens, economies and natural assets, nationally driven processes like SIIVA become essential. These tools help to risk-inform planning and budgeting processes, strengthen locally led action and apply a scalable approach to building resilience.
Specifically, SIIVA is enabling Solomon Islands Government to:
- Produce reliable, comparable evidence for planning, budgeting, and monitoring across sectors and provinces.
- Prioritise investments and direct resources to the most vulnerable places and groups
- Promote whole-of-government and whole‑of‑society coordination, aligning ministries, NGOs, and churches around shared evidence and priority risks.
- Support community‑led adaptation by helping villagers assess strengths and gaps and co‑define feasible solutions.
- Undertake more holistic analysis, integrating environmental, social, livelihood, infrastructure, and institutional dimensions to gauge resilience.
- Promote a scalable, workable solution that can be adapted to other small island contexts seeking practical, systems-level resilience.
Looking ahead
As SIIVA expands nationwide, three priorities will assist in accelerating impact of the assessment process. First, SIIVA outputs need to be embedded in annual provincial and sector planning processes and Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks. This requires SIIVA reports to be readily available, and processes established to consider the results in the design of initiatives.
Second, the SIIVA dashboard should be accessible so provinces and sectors can easily query and use the SIIVA results.
Finally, there is an opportunity for MECDM to convert the SIIVA findings into bankable packages, based on evidence-based prioritisation of communities and provinces. These could be along thematic areas such as community water security; climate-smart value chains or local early warning systems.
By grounding sector initiatives such as MAL’s Model Farms with the robust, community level evidence provided by the SIIVA, Solomon Islands Government is ensuring that development efforts are targeted, risk informed and resilient.
About UNDP Gov4Res
Gov4Res is delivered by the UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji in partnership with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Korea International Cooperation Agency, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the United Kingdom’s Commonwealth, Foreign and Development Office.
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