Savaii farmers and fishermen sign grant agreement to mark milestone

Local farmers and fishermen in Savaii have signed matching grant agreements to commemorate a milestone for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in the implementation of the Samoa Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity and Marketing Project.

The Ministry’s CEO, Tilafono David Hunter said it is an important progress for the SAPFROM project since it was signed in 2019 between the Government of Samoa and their key donor partners, World Bank and the International Fund for Agriculture Development.

“When SAFPROM was officially signed, we received over 3,000 applications for the Matching Grant Progamme from around the country. The large numbers of applications went through a comprehensive screening and verification process last year.”

“Since then 1,305 farmers and fishers have been approved to receive assistance through the MGP to help boost their productivity and improve their access to markets.”

“During these times of uncertainty we need to keep the momentum going with the development of agriculture and fisheries. We are very pleased to arrive at this milestone and realise this at the farmer and fisher level. At the same time we are continuing our work through the project to put in place the infrastructure to help continue and sustain increased production and productivity.”

Agriculture and Fisheries Sector Co-ordination Division CEO, Dr Ramona Stephanie Sulifoa said last week’s Grant Signing Event with farmers and fishers marks a new chapter for the SAFPROM Project.

“There have been challenges along the way with managing over a thousand approved MGP farmers and making sure they are compliant with all the Projects requirements which is why reaching this milestone is so important and satisfying.”

Savaii saw a total of sixty one of its farmers and fishermen signed the agreement.