Vanuatu PM Joe Natuman urges Tanna residents to be self-sufficent in aftermath of Cyclone Pam

Vanuatu's prime minister, on a tour of the areas worst-affected by Cyclone Pam, has urged citizens to "plant their own gardens and survive" - and told them that they had become too dependent on government as a result of French colonial rule.

Joe Natuman arrived on the island of Tanna days after the category five cyclone laid waste to the island, leaving thousands homeless and water and food supplies dwindling.

Residents told of a terrifying and unprecedented storm that raged for hours, flattening whole villages, wiping out subsistence crops and damaging or destroying more than three-quarters of all homes on the island.

Some questioned the lack of visible support from the government, which has struggled to mount an immediate response and is heavily reliant on Australia, New Zealand and France for aid.

Natuman, who arrived on a New Zealand military plane, told reporters at Tanna airport that while large-scale aid had begun to arrive on the island, people should eat what food the cyclone had left behind before the government stepped in.

He said aid would initially focus on shelters and "probably water" before turning to food supplies.

Asked what message of hope he could offer Tanna, Natuman paid tribute to local people's resilience before criticising French colonialism and what he said was an overdependence on government.