Initial settlement of the Gilbert Islands was from eastern Melanesia early in the first millennium AD. Early occupation may have been characterised by episodes of settlement and abandonment, with permanent communities on islands with better rainfall, water availability, better agricultural and fishing resources, and more temporary satellite communities on islands less suited to occupation where resource scarcity and/or isolation resulting in abandonment. None of the Phoenix and Line Islands appear to have been inhabited when first discovered by Europeans.
Coconut, screw pine, breadfruit, and swamp taro played a major role in the precontact diet and in many ways continue to do so. The Pacific fig was also relied upon as a staple, together with screw pine, on the drier islands in the south.
Traditional cultivation techniques in Kiribati showed a high degree of sophistication stressing the importance of a tree-crop based multi-story farming system. Arboriculture – the culture of trees was prominent, even in urbanized settings, and a permanent form of sustainable agroforestry provided for a wide range of subsistence needs, with crops receiving little direct cultivation beyond occasional mulching and replanting. However, since the end of World War 2, the Pacific has witnessed accelerated removal of trees. This process began during the colonial period with the establishment of monoculture, resulting in a simplification of forest cover to make room for cash crops (e.g., coconut plantations).
Another historically important traditional food-crop system now generally in decline is the pit cultivation of the giant swamp taro which is capable of producing sustained yields of staple, starchy food. Increasing consumption of rice and flour, together with salinization of the water table has reduced consumption of swamp taro. On South Tarawa and parts of North Tarawa, the taro beetle has also contributed to the abandonment of pits.
Phosphates had been profitably exported from Banaban Island since the turn of the century, but commercial deposits were exhausted in 1979.
Despite limited land and poor soils, agriculture has had a significant role to play in the economy of Kiribati in the achievement of increased copra production. In 1998, 7,577 metric tons were exported worth A$4.5 million which accounted for about two-thirds of export revenue. However, from 1992 to 2002 agricultural exports decreased 2.0 percent annually. The leading export is the coconut product copra.
Household sample at Bonriki 2002: fruits and vegetables, tree crops including coconut, screw pine, Indian mulberry - mainly for medicinal purposes, breadfruit, papaya, and Pacific fig.
