Promoting Nutritious Food Systems in the Pacific:
Samoa National Action Plan
The participatory creation of the National Action Plan during the Fiji Forum aims to provide tailor-made approaches in order to tackle specific in-country challenges and make use of opportunities at national level for agribusiness and value chain development.
The plan addresses four key themes:
1. NUTRITION: Reduction in NCDs and increased income from the development of local food crops and fisheries value chains
- Impact Aims: Increase household dietary diversity and production and sale of fresh and processed local food crops and fisheries
- Key Innovations/ Critical Success Factors: Multi-stakeholder collaboration; farmers willing to increase production of traditional food crops; consumers willing to consume local food crops; capacity building of local food scientists/ technologists/engineers.
2. FINANCE – Making farmers bank ready and banks farmer ready
- Impact Aims: Increase access to agribusiness / value chain financing especially for smallholder farmers and SMEs
- Key Innovations / Critical Success Factors: Collaboration between DFIs, commercial bank, donors and other financial institutions; capacity building; mobile penetration/ banking
3. ICT – Robust Communication System for Growers
- Impact Aims: Improved information sharing services across and between government and the private sector that leads to supporting the economy
- Key Innovations / Critical Success Factors: Improved and Affordable Country Wide ICT Connectivity and online business environment to provide ‘different ways of doing business’
4. INSURANCE – Robust Insurance Package for Farmers
- Impact Aims: Raise awareness and build capacity for the development and introduction of agricultural insurance products
- Key Innovations / Critical Success Factors: Well-designed emergency response system; Drought single most significant peril; member of PRAFI scheme; mobile phone penetration (100%); mobile network connects directly to farmers; modern & sophisticated banking industry; competent meteorological bureau
Each theme is addressed under the sections:
- Action
- Partners involved
- Stakeholder Targeted
- Resources Required
- Timeframe
- Method of Verification
Download the Samoa National Action Plan here.
As part of the consultation process, interested parties are invited to provide feedback through joining the Samoa online discussion group or through the contact form here.
One of the Fiji Forum participants, Gillian Steward from Women in Business Development (WIBDI) which is based in Samoa on the elements in the action plan:
My take home message is the critical call to action now. It’s not about waiting, we have a lot of the elements of things in place so it is really up to us to do that connecting work along our supply chain and really have some impact in the short to medium term. I believe we can achieve that not just looking at longer term goals, but we can act now and have real impact in the short term
Read her full interview here:
Also read the article of another participant of the Fiji Forum Dr. Walter Vermeulen, Executive Director, METI, based in Samoa below:
Are you interested in the Agriculture-Nutrition Nexus in Samoa? Download the report here which includes an overview of organisations working on agriculture, food and nutrition; the policy and institutional framework and key recommendations on how to strengthen the Agriculture-Nutrition Nexus in Samoa.