Farming life all the way - no matter what

By Aruna Lolani 07 August 2017, 12:00AM

“At this point in time, Samoa is a land of many farmers

“This is how we began and I know we will continue to use this land this way to survive.”

That is the perspective of Feta Lauina of Saoluafata.

The 50 year old from Saoluafata was collecting wood when he was approached by the Village Voice for an interview.

“I used to work in American Samoa before I decided to move back here and start working on my plantation,” said Mr. Lauina to the Village Voice.

“I saw that this kind of business is growing and it’s very beneficial for our people.

“Now I have my own patch of taro and pumpkins up at the mountains where I walk on some days of the week to get a little exercise from and when the crops and vegetables are ready, I just sell them in front of my house.

“It’s work for my three kids at school and usually when it’s a good day, I earn about $70 to $80 a day.

“My wife is working overseas so she helps out from there.

Although things seem to be going well for Mr. Lauina, he worries sometimes about the growing number of farmers because it also means a lot of competitors.

“It’s true. We are Samoans after all and competing is what we are good at so I’m not surprised.

“But with this kind of situation, you can’t always guarantee that the income will always be great.

“Sometimes you have good days and sometimes it’s not so good right?

He added “I still think that farmers and fishermen do make more money than an average employee from a company, most of the time.

“I mean if we know how to do our own marketing to make our crops sellable than I guess we will be fine; this is Samoa’s own wealth anyway.”

By Aruna Lolani 07 August 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>