| ID: | 86937 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Samoa |
| Title: | Samoa – Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) – November 2022 |
| Description: |
Aundrie Alatine collects sea urchins, sea cucumbers and other seafood, which she bottles and sells for 30 tālā (about US$11) per bottle from a stand she set up alongside the main road in Puipa’a village. With a new spear, cooler, mask and fins provided by the IFAD-supported Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS), she was able to increase the amount of seafood she collects and can now fill and sell about 10 bottles each day. This support helped increase her income from 120 to 300 tālā per day, enough to finally afford the school fees for her children. “The fishing gear and equipment we received from the project was timely and was a huge cost saving for us. PIRAS enabled us to find a solution to make direct sales that helped me and my family survive the pandemic.” Piupa’a is a small village on Upolu island where fishing has been a way of life for generations. The village is only about 15 meters from the main island ring road where Aundrie and most fishers sell their products. They struggled during the pandemic when lockdowns restricted the times they were allowed to fish and the flow of customers to their roadside markets. Through PIRAS, the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa (SROS), reached out to this vulnerable community to support livelihood recovery. Though only 10 kilometres from Apia, Samoa’s capital city, Piupa’a had never received support from a development project. PIRAS made a difference in these families’ lives, who, for the first time ever, received a small boost to improve the productivity of their labour, decrease food loss and increase their income. The Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (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 almost 4,000 participants, of whom more than 40% are women like Aundrie. |
| Size: | 9.35 MB; 5472 x 3648 pixels; 463 x 309 mm (print at 300 DPI); 1448 x 965 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Show more details: | ©IFAD/Barbara GravelliBarbara Gravelli |
| Copyright: | Barbara Gravelli© IFAD/ Barbara Gravelli |
| Categories: | none |
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