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Strengthening Capacity of Youth for Employment and Livelihood in Agriculture - TCP/SAM/3603

Year of publication 2020

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 12

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Approximately 80 percent of the population of Samoa resides in rural areas, yet the contribution of the agriculture sector to the national gross domestic product (GDP) is relatively low. While agriculture accounted for around 50 percent of the GDP in 1980, this contribution decreased to less than 10 percent by 2013. In contrast, remittances accounted for 18.2 percent of the GDP in 2011. The 2009 Agriculture Census found that 15 786 of the 23 164 households surveyed were agriculturally active. However, only half of these agriculturally active households derived some income from their produce, with the remainder of households producing purely for the purpose of consumption. In addition, an estimated 37 300 ha was being used for agriculture at the time of the census, representing 57 percent of the total agricultural land. More generally, 82 percent of agricultural production value is generated from crops. Only 24 percent of the value added to products, however, is achieved through commercial agriculture, with subsistence farming accounting for most of the value-added products in the sector. In Samoa, there are five crops that account for 76 percent of production value. These include taro, swamp taro, coconut, banana and pumpkin. Additionally, cabbage (15 percent) and tomato (3 percent) account for most of the remaining production value. Critically, shortcomings in the domestic production of high-value horticultural crops contributes to the high cost of both local and imported vegetables compared to substitute foods. This in turn, contributes to the Samoan population’s high dependence on purchasing imported foods, which is estimated to account for over 70 percent of their diets. As a result, there are high consumption rates of prepared and convenience foods that contain high levels of salt, sugar and saturated fat, which contribute to poor nutrition and obesity. Despite the existing challenges, the agriculture sector has been at the forefront of economic growth in Samoa and remains crucial to national food security, income generation and export potential. Therefore, the vision for the Agriculture Sector Plan 2011–2016 focused on “Agriculture for Food and Income Security” and was guided by the “farming and fishing first” theme. In particular, two of the key areas that have been explored are improved fruit tree development and value addition for selected crops.

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