The Government has appropriated half a million tala for the first harvest Talomua Festival which will see it get a SAT$320,000 boost compared to the previous year.

The funding is only a slice of the $1.7 million allocation to the Ministry of Finance (M.A.F.) in 2023-2024 compared to $1.5 million in the previous financial plan. 

In the previous year, the Government allocated funding of $180,000 for the agriculture show hosted by M.A.F. where farmers from Upolu and Savaii came to town to showcase their first fruit of agricultural produce that included livestock. 

But that has since changed when the Government changed the setting of the project to take the show out in the villages and ensure the bulk of the funding goes to farmers instead of coordinating one event. 

In the last financial year, many constituencies held talomua festivals to coincide with their independence celebration, where wheelbarrows and other agricultural equipment were distributed. 

But Members of the Opposition claimed that despite more funding getting injected into the talomua incentive, there was a scarcity of agricultural produce in the market and production costs skyrocketed. 

The Government disputed this saying that if there was a scarcity of agricultural produce then there would be no produce at the market or being sold on the side of the road. 

In addition, the Government maintained it had no control over the cost of produce and it was up to the farmers on how much their bundle of taro can be sold for. 

Under the M.A.F. current financial year budget the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa (S.R.O.S.) has had its budget cut by $700,000 compared to the previous year. 

In addition, the Government’s input into the Samoa-China Agricultural Technical Aid Project (SCATAP) has dropped from $260,000 in the previous year to $140 in the current financial year. 

An allocation of $300,000 for the establishment of the Export Authority remains on the current budget.