Two new reports have been released by the Government which show that 94 per cent of Samoan households are still engaged in agriculture.

This was highlighted during the official launch of the two reports: Samoa Agriculture Census Report 2019 and the Food Security and Food Consumption in Samoa report.

A ceremony was held at the Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey's Hotel which was attended by members of the diplomatic core and the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster.

The Government Statistician, Ali’imuamua Malaefono Ta’aloga spoke on behalf of the Minister of Women Community and Development, Leota Laki Lamositele-Sio who was not able to make it.

Ali’imuamua, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (S.B.S.), said that the Samoa Agriculture Census Report 2019 is the fourth agriculture census conducted by the S.B.S. in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

“It is conducted every ten years aiming at providing basic structural data on agriculture such as farm size, cropping patterns, farm labour and the use of farm machinery and inputs,” she said.

“The census was one of the core surveys in the Samoa Strategy for the Development of Statistics 2011-2021.

“The census results showed that 94 per cent of Samoan households were still engaged in agriculture either in planting crops or raising livestock or engaging in fishing.

“The rural population comprising 80 per cent of the total population were largely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.”

Ali’imuamua added that before COVID-19, the agriculture sector contributed about 11 per cent to the GDP which is the fourth sector in the economy.

“We are mindful that Samoa is vulnerable to natural disasters, external economic shocks, and the performance of the global markets,” said Ali’imuamua.

“Such factors can disrupt the growth of the agriculture sector at any time of the year.”

The agriculture census report 2019 recorded 28,516 households, 94.3 per cent (26,900) of these are agricultural households meaning they grew some crops or raised some livestock.

“Agriculture in Samoa is important for reasons of food security and to the economy of Samoa. In 2020, agriculture represented 8.3 per cent of Samoa’s Gross Domestic Product compared to 9.5 per cent in 2009 (in constant 2013 $SAT).”