| ID: | 86945 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Samoa |
| Title: | Samoa – Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) – November 2022 |
| Description: |
Vicky Vaai uses the new SUV she was able to buy with profits from her business to transport her Ceylon cinnamon and coconut jam products to tourist and food shops across Samoa’s main island. Vicky Vaai lives together with her husband and six children in Vaivase village where she owns and operates Samoa's Own Ceylon cinnamon farm and processing facility. Vicky started her cinnamon business during the COVID-19-related lockdown period in March 2022 – the first producer of Ceylon cinnamon in Samoa. Though just a few kilometres outside Apia, Samoa’s capital city, the natural environment surrounding Vicky's small farm is rich in biodiversity. Just before Covid-19 hit, she had started a business using the organic coconuts harvested from the trees on her farm to produce jam in an enlarged home kitchen facility. But with her access to markets cut off due to intermittent lockdowns starting in 2020, she had no orders coming in and production stopped. “I knew I would have to start over again, do something else. I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.” During the lockdowns, Vicky used to go out for walks on the farm, down to a waterfall surrounded by trees. It was during that time that she recalled the stories her father used to tell her about the cinnamon trees that grow on her family land, and how it was possible to get powdered cinnamon from their bark. She never took what he was saying too seriously. “As I enjoyed the nature around the waterfall, surrounded by trees, I started to notice the strong cinnamon aroma that wafted on the breeze. I started to think that maybe I should try to do something with the trees and had an idea for using this natural resource to start a new business.” The IFAD-supported Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) helped Vicky get started. Vicky was able to deepen her knowledge and improve her business and e-marketing skills through a PIRAS training programme, and also received various tools to help with the work, such as a grinding machine, a chainsaw and ladder. Thanks to PIRAS support, she has been able to grow her new business and continues to offer employment opportunities to as many as nine local people in need. As the pandemic-related trade and movement restrictions have ended, Vicky has also been able to restart her coconut jam production and has resumed exporting both products within the region and selling to food shops across the country. PIRAS supports COVID-19 food system and economic recovery by prioritizing food self-reliance, improving local nutrition and developing sustainable, equitable agricultural sector growth opportunities. In Samoa, PIRAS supports food production, post-harvest handling and market access by distributing planting materials and production inputs; providing farming equipment and training to improve farm productivity; providing food processing technology and training to support post-harvest handling, food preservation and value adding; and, linking agribusiness to markets through e-commerce platforms and inclusion in government purchasing supply schemes. PIRAS has strengthened value chain engagement of newly established farmers’ associations, and small and medium enterprises, reaching individual participants of whom more than 40% are women like Vicky. |
| Size: | 5.30 MB; 5472 x 3648 pixels; 463 x 309 mm (print at 300 DPI); 1448 x 965 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Show more details: | Barbara GravelliBarbara Gravelli |
| Copyright: | ©IFAD/Barbara Gravelli© IFAD/ Barbara Gravelli |
| Categories: | none |
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