SPC and EU help link Samoan farmers to tourism sector

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                                                                        Photo credits: SPC

More than 25 smallholders, including six women, mainly from the ‘salad bowl’ region on the main island of Upolu in Samoa, met at Nuu Extension Centre in November to receive tips on how to market their produce to hoteliers and resort owners. 

The one-day workshop is an initiative to strengthen the link between agriculture and the tourism industry.  The farmer workshop was facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with national partners Samoa MAF and the Samoa Farmers Association (SFS) in an initiative to bring farmers closer to competitive markets. A major achievement of the workshop was the space given to farmers to draw up a calendar of what they can produce, in what quantities, and what prices they would like to sell at. This crop calendar, produced by each farmer, was shown to hoteliers and chefs in a later exchange at the farmer-hotelier mart held at the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) fales in Apia. This was an open forum, where the hoteliers and chefs met with the farmers to negotiate what the chefs want and what farmers can provide. 

The farmers’ major issue when discussing challenges to farming at national consultations is the problem of lack of markets. Smallholders face many challenges: finding the right varieties to grow at the nursery stage; field planting, with soil health and pest problems; farm credit; farm inputs; transport; and labour. Market access is a huge challenge to resource-poor rural farmers far away from urban markets, but nearby resorts and hotels are accessible to these farmers and there is a growing demand for local produce.

Two farmers travelled from Savaii, as members of the Sapapalii community, one of two project sites of the USAid-SPC food security and climate change project. Two farmers also came from the second project site, Savaia Lefaga community. Project Coordinator, Ms Emele Meleisea Ainu’u facilitated the participation of the project farmers as the recently completed community nurseries will be supplying vegetables to farmers with the aim to improve nutrition and trade surplus produce.

At the farmer workshop on Monday, celebrity chef and Hawaiian local, Colin Chung, gave tips to farmers on how to market their products and how to be good sellers to the hoteliers and chefs, in preparation to meet the hoteliers and chefs on Thursday. ‘Tell your story. What’s the story behind your product? When chefs prepare specialty menus they usually link the source materials back to the communities they buy from. So hotel guests can read the history behind a particular food dish, the communities involved, and their contribution to the local economy – make that connection count,’ said Mr Chung. 

Mr Chung was in Samoa as celebrity chef and as one of the trainers for the Samoa Culinary Training Workshop held at various hotel venues in Apia. The South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) co-hosted the culinary training workshop in partnership with the University of the South Pacific and the European Union.

The initiative to strengthen the link between smallholders and competitive markets is an objective of the European Union-funded Pacific Agriculture and Policy Programme (PAPP), based with the Land Resources Division of SPC. PAPP is a Intra ACP facility aiming to assist the development of national policies to allow smallholders access to competitive markets for trade. The global objective is improved livelihoods of rural communities through increased participation in economic activities.

Contact for more information: Emil Adams, PAPP Information and Communication Management Officer