Local plants as global actors?

Climate change, with its global reach, brings local challenges such as food security issues. As a response, anthropology, among other disciplines, calls for engagement and cooperation with the species around us. This approach recognises our existing connections to the animal, plant and environmental worlds around us, and suggests that acknowledging the influences of more-than-human entities on our lives could lead to new solutions to global challenges (cf. ¹ Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. Der Pilz am Ende der Welt: Über das Leben in den Ruinen des Kapitalismus. Berlin: Matthes & Seitz, 2018. , ² Haraway, Donna J. Unruhig bleiben: Die Verwandtschaft der Arten im Chthuluzän. Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag, 2018. , ³ Calkins, Sandra. "Writing Planetary Futures." Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (ZfE)/Journal of Social and Cultural Anthropology (JSCA) H. 1 (2020): 93-110. , ⁴ Heise, Ursula K. Nach der Natur: das Artensterben und die moderne Kultur. Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2010.).In the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, the reciprocal relationships between islanders and their food crops are lived out in the cultivation of food crops. Horticulture shapes the daily lives of ni-Vanuatu[^Ni-Vanuatu is the name given to themselves by the inhabitants of Vanuatu. and is of central importance to their food security (cf. ⁵ Bolton, Lissant M., and Jean Mitchell. “The Art of Gardens: An Introduction.” Anthropological Forum 31 (2021): 339-351. , ⁶ Hetzel, Desirée. Moving Lives–Cultivating with Climate Change in Vanuatu. transcript Verlag, 2025. , ⁷ Pascht, Arno. "Klaemet Jenj Worlds: Approaching Climate Change and Knowledge Creation in Vanuatu." Journal de La Société Des Océanistes, no. 149 (December 15, 2019): 235–44. https://doi.org/10.4000/jso.11257. ).

Horticulture, which takes place mainly in rural areas in the form of slash-and-burn agriculture and is affected by climate change, particularly in the form of seasonal shifts. In particular, increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods and long periods of drought can damage seedlings during the planting season. At the same time, increasing rural-urban migration within the country brings challenges such as more difficult access to land for cultivation. In Vanuatu, urban centres are thus becoming places where national food security is negotiated (cf. ⁸ Alston, Margaret, Sascha Fuller, and Nikita Kwarney. "Women and Climate Change in Vanuatu, Pacific Islands Region." Gender, Place & Culture, July 5, 2023, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2023.2229530. , ⁹ Campbell, John R. "Climate Change and Urbanization in Pacific Island Countries." Policy Brief 49 (2019). ).

During my six-month research stay in Vanuatu, I repeatedly encountered a particular plant: Aelan Kabis ¹⁰ This name comes from Vanuatu's lingua franca, Bislama. The botanical name for the plant is Abelmoschus manihot, and it belongs to the mallow family, whose spinach-like leaves are eaten. (island cabbage). In the gardens of the individual islands, it often serves as a source of shade, but also as a boundary. It is a food plant that requires little care, can be propagated by cuttings and is optimally adapted to the climate and soil. Different varieties of the leafy vegetable are sold, exchanged or even given away at local markets. It can be found almost everywhere, on roadsides, in front of public buildings and even next to toilets. Even though they mainly eat imported rice, urban Ni-Vanuatu people still put at least a few leaves of this nutrient-rich plant on their plates. Simboro, which is cassava rolled in Aelan Kabis, is now considered one of Vanuatu's national dishes.

Migration from the islands to the two cities of Luganville and Port Vila is accompanied by various local customs, traditions and practices, but also by urban lifestyles, a lack of arable land and the availability of imported food. Diet, housing, language and the cultivation of food crops influence and affect urban conditions. Aelan Kabis is a constant companion in rural and urban everyday life – more a matter of course than something to be commented on.

I spoke to Floriane Kaoh, a researcher working at the Vanuatu Agricultural Research and Technical Centre (VARTC), about the ubiquity of this plant. She conveyed her enthusiasm for the diversity of Aelan Kabis and the variations in its use. In addition to its high nutrient content and health benefits, it also adds variety to dishes. It is used in the preparation of Vanuatu's own Aelan Kakai ¹¹ This term comes from Bislama and applies to both local food plants and prepared local dishes. (e.g. Laplap flatbread) as well as an addition to everyday rice dishes. Aelan cabbage is rich in vitamins, protein and minerals. The plant thus contributes as a valuable addition to Vanuatu's food crops that contribute to food security (cf. ¹² Araújo, N. "The Land Is Life: Contesting Food Security and Development Initiatives Through Gendered Narratives of Wellbeing in Urban and Peri-urban Vanuatu." In Narratives of Wellbeing, edited by T. Phillips, N. Araújo, T.W. Jones, and J. Taylor. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59519-6_11. ).

It is therefore not surprising that the plant, which accompanies island life characterised by cultivation, has also gained a foothold in the urban centres of the island state, where land is scarce and healthy eating is a constant issue. In short, Aelan Kabis has become a constant companion to the local people in the process of negotiating the habitability and quality of life in urban centres.

Here too, there is ongoing discussion about the need for plants in urban areas. The desire for greener cities has developed into a continuous movement worldwide. The challenges posed by climate change and urbanisation are manifold. To meet them, we need plants as our companions: they increase biodiversity at the roadside, reduce heat congestion in residential areas and make us less dependent on rising food costs in allotments. The quality of life in urban centres is inextricably linked to the life of plants (cf. ¹³ Edwards, Ferne, Lucia Alexandra Popartan, and Ida Nilstad Pettersen, eds. Urban Natures: Living the more-than-human city. Vol. 1. Berghahn Books, 2023. , ¹⁴ Stoetzer, Bettina. Ruderal city: Ecologies of migration, race, and urban nature in Berlin. Duke University Press, 2022. ).

So, what cross-species approaches can we derive from this observation?

When we address issues of food security in Vanuatu, the example of Aelan Kabis clearly shows that we are not alone in our concern. The almost automatic cooperation with this food plant offers solutions to local challenges. Aelan Kabis adapts to the urban everyday life of the islanders, provides them with essential nutrients and thus contributes to food security. In terms of local and global challenges, plants can act as collaborative partners in jointly designing habitats that take into account both plants and people and their respective needs. In doing so, we must take a closer look and recognise how much power the plants around us have. We must work with them to find green paths in the city.