This study examines how compound shocks shape food insecurity in Vanuatu’s archipelagic food system, arguing that redistribution capacity is the key mechanism linking shock exposure to food outcomes. Using the Redistribution Capacity Index (RCI) and the Hollow Recovery Index (HRI), the analysis combines shipping frequency, port functionality, and road access to assess inter-island food circulation across six provinces and 71 area councils from 2019 to 2023.
The results show a sharp collapse in redistribution capacity during the COVID-19 closure period, followed by only partial recovery after subsequent cyclone events. Recovery trajectories vary across provinces, revealing a persistent north–south gradient in food-security resilience. Sanma emerges as a buffered stronghold, while Torba, Shefa, and Tafea experience prolonged hollow recovery marked by delayed restoration and elevated vulnerability. Spatial lag regression indicates that RCI mediates approximately 42 percent of the total effect of compound shocks on food insecurity, confirming the central role of circulation networks in shaping food outcomes in archipelagic settings.
The study also identifies four resilience archetypes—buffered stronghold, moderate resilience, hidden hotspot, and critical–fragile—showing that food security in SIDS is territorially differentiated and shaped by hub dependency and logistics fragility. The concept of hollow recovery highlights the gap between the resumption of visible activity and the restoration of systemic resilience. In Vanuatu, shipping and markets reopened after crises, but service frequency, wharf functionality, and network connectivity remained degraded, leaving provinces vulnerable to renewed disruption.
These findings suggest that SIDS food-security policy should shift from a production-centred focus toward circulation-centred resilience, with greater attention to logistics decentralisation, transport redundancy, and redistribution infrastructure.
Keywords: Compound shocks ; food insecurity ; redistribution capacity ; hollow recovery ; Vanuatu ; archipelagic food systems; resilience ; Pacific SIDS.
Citation: Tsolocto, A. et al., (2026). Redistribution Capacity, Hollow Recovery, and Food Insecurity Under Compound Shocks in Vanuatu : A Territorial Analysis of Food-System Resilience, 2019–2023. J N food sci tech, 7(3):1-15. DOI : https://doi.org/10.47485/2834-7854.1070