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Youth Organic Farming in Samoa

By United Nations Development Programme

August 28^th, 2014

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A Successful Youth Organic Farmer in Samoa

Rosemarie Siaosi (25) hails from Faleula, a remote village of Samoa. Until a few months ago, apart from helping her family with household chores, Rosemarie was one the 16% of Samoan youth that do not have a job. Samoa’s youth unemployment rate is the highest in all of the South East Asia Pacific region, according to a recent Asian Development Bank report.

Now, through the Farm to Table programme, Rosemarie has learned valuable new skills to find work. The programme, which is run by Women In Business Development Inc.(WIBDI) in partnership with UNDP, connects family farmers with hoteliers and restaurant owners in Samoa. Participants learn about modern farming and doing business at the same time, increasing their chances of securing work in the highly competitive Samoan job market.

For Rosemarie, farming is a highly personal endeavor. Her extended family’s livelihood has relied on traditional farming techniques for many years.

“I wanted to learn about organic farming, particularly mulching and composting, since my family has been involved with traditional farming processes and systems which didn’t yield much farm produce for us”, said Rosemarie.

WIBDI associate director Alberta Malielegaoi is optimistic about the potential of emerging youth interest in organic farming. The organization has already hired some of the trained young farmers to assist in running the Farm to Table initiative.

“We want to help fulfill the aspirations of these young people who want to be skilled organic farmers and to contribute to comprehensive organic farming in Samoa”, Ms. Malielegaoi commented.

Like many Pacific Island countries, Samoa struggles to create enough jobs for those entering the labour force every year. The country has a young population, so many of those seeking work are youth. Providing direct and concrete job opportunities for young people is an important priority for many SIDS, and an area in which UNDP provides much needed support.

Together with the International Labour Organization(ILO), UNDP has been playing an important role in managing youth employment projects, providing technical and financial support to key local organizations implementing initiatives with Samoan youth.

The young Samoan joined the Farm to Table initiative along with 45 other young farmers, all working to enrich their skills and knowledge through a week-long training course in organic farming. Aside from developing their skill sets, the programme provided the young farmers with other inputs such as cash grants and connections with hotels, restaurants and more, to help them become part of the country’s workforce. The initiative also helped the young ‘champion farmers’ to gain relevant certifications in organic farming and practices.

Farm to Table participants are immediately putting their skills to use, by providing organic and delicious meals for the Third UN Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference set to begin on 1 September 2014. The meals will be provided to more than 3,000 visitors through twelve kiosks, securing income and work experience for the young farmers.

Rosemarie feels inspired by the work she has done with Farm to Table: “The training has opened my eyes to multiple ways to approach my profession. It will help me in the future, and with these new ideas I will be able to help other farmers, including my family, improve the farming practices as well”, she said.