Representatives from Samoa’s tourism sector, business owners and the agriculture and fisheries sector are meeting in Apia to explore the best ways to link locally grown produce to markets.
Minister for Tourism Sala Fata Pinati says there is a need to make better connections between farmers and tourism business owners.
“We have been planning it for some time now but we have not yet made it work. So this forum is the first act by the Samoan Government to start making these plans reality,” Pinati said at the Agritourism Policy Setting Forum.
Samoa imports about $214 million tala worth of goods, fruits and vegetables annually.
That accounts for 20% of the cost of imported products.
The food products are imported mostly for commercial use in hotels and other tourism-based businesses in the country.
“We’re trying to figure out a way by bringing together all the experts in the region to give us their perspectives from their countries to better manage our imports. Why would we need to import fizzy drinks to be sold back to the tourist who drinks it all the time at their homes,” said Samoa Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer, Papalii Sonja Hunter.
The average tourist spends close to $300 tala a day in Samoa.
Of this amount about $69 tala is spent on food and drinks.
The government believes these statistics would help identify and strengthen potential profit areas.
“If we swap out the imported drinks and snacks we import and use our local products like the coconut juice, you’re looking at earning more and spending less to import because it doesn’t cost anything to plant a coconut tree and believe me they love the local food,” added Papalii.
However, according to Minister Pinati, it’s easier said than done.
“Linking farmers and business owners is the biggest challenge, because not only that we don’t have enough farmers who do commercial farming, but we have yet to discover the standard our local goods are at,” he said.
The forum hosted by Samoa Tourism Authority is aimed at building a platform for discussion where experts of tourism and farming come together to pitch their own ideas on making the linkage possible.
Some of the participants who are from other Pacific island countries will also be able to share their experiences about this concept of linking farms to markets.