Isn’t it wonderful to see the rich organic produce that Samoa’s farmers grow in their backyard plantations.

Last Saturday farmers from Siumu village on the south coast of Upolu hosted their first Talomua and used the event to showcase their agricultural produce, livestock and seafood courtesy of the villager’s fishers.

The Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, La’auli Leuatea Schmidt, the Siumu M.P. Tu’uu Anasii Leota and the Associate Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Maiava Fuimaono Tito Asafo and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries joined the villagers for the event.

Early this month the village of Tafua in Savai’i also showcased their vegetable and fruits as well as fine mats and handcraft woven by the local women as the major attractions of their own talomua. Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and La’auli attended the talomua hosted by Tafua villagers.

At the end of last month the village of Tapatapao in Upolu also hosted their inaugural talomua event with the farmers also displaying their produce as well as fresh water fish (tilapia) and eels farmed in the nearby freshwater ponds. The M.A.F. also handed over 500 coconut and fruit tree seedlings as well as packets of vegetable seeds and farming tools and equipment to the village.

The decision by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries to replace the national agricultural show with the village and district-based Talomua events has to be a master-stroke, giving the participating farmers and villages around Samoa the opportunity to organise their own events.

There were advantages and disadvantages in the annual agricultural shows that were held in Apia over the years, perhaps, the largest challenge for the M.A.F. at that time would have been the ability to be inclusive and ensure maximum participation by all farmers in that single annual event.

In other countries agricultural shows become platforms that provide farmers with access to experts, and even technical advice on the use of farming technology, as well as meet and network with farmers which can become an avenue for the exchange of ideas and knowledge on farming practices.

Having reported on a number of agriculture shows over the years held in Apia, you can be sure not all farmers in the rural community participate and subsequent events can easily become exclusive, resulting in farmers and farming groups becoming marginalised with only a few participating.

But the villages hosting of their own Talomua now overcomes that hurdle, and gives farmers an opportunity to become active participants and organisers in an event that is being held in their own villages.

The benefits for rural families in the villages are numerous. The presence of experts from the M.A.F. in the Talomua event in the participating village opens the door to the transfer of skills and knowledge to a broader section of the community, not just the farmer and his or her family. 

The presentation of agricultural tools and vegetable seedlings to farmers in the various villages hosting Talomua events is also a bonus, as it serves as an incentive for villages that are yet to embrace the initiative and might have doubts about the overall benefit of such an event on their community.

Minister Laauli, when he gave a speech at the Talomua event in Tafua early this month, talked about the Government’s plans to increase villages’ food and nutrition security, import substitution and exports.

He also talked about the establishment of a National Export and Import Authority which would benefit the agriculture and fisheries sector in the long-term.

With the Government due to present its 2022-2023 Budget to the Legislative Assembly for the new financial year, we hope funding has been allocated to the M.A.F. to rehabilitate and harness the potential of the country’s agriculture and fisheries sector.

Investing in the establishment of a National Export and Import Authority could be a step in the right direction, but the Government will need to come clear on how exactly the benefits of such an investment in a new State-funded government entity will trickle down to the ordinary farmers.

With over 90 per cent of Samoa’s 30,000 households already growing crops or raising livestock, improving rural livelihoods and food security should be a top agenda for the Government while continuing to explore avenues on how farmers' success from their hard work can be turned into profits for their families.