The perspectives of a cucumber farmer

By Vatapuia Maiava and Ilia L. Likou 19 November 2016, 12:00AM

Kirisimasi Luma from the village of Samusu-Uta, Aleipata, is certain.

Life in the village is what God planned for him.

Aged 53, the hardworking father takes pride in his cucumber plantation which he says provides for the family in more ways than one.

He says that time is very precious so he wastes none of it; when he finds himself doing nothing then he would go out and grow something in his plantation.

“I take joy in growing cucumbers and other crops,” Kirisimasi told the Village Voice.

“I have another cucumber plantation further inland and this is just a small plantation I have growing near my house to make use of the time.

“The reason I work so hard is to try and provide for my family, especially my children who are growing up. I guess that’s the reason why many people work so hard.”

Kirisimasi’s biggest motivation is to provide as much as he can for his family.

“I try and motivate myself by trying to find ways to earn money for my family,” he said.

“All of the cucumbers I grow are transported to Apia for sale. We ran into some problems growing the cucumbers but now we are getting back on our feet.

“Right now the cucumbers are selling quite nicely again. The best thing about this vegetable is that it just takes two months for it to grow and then it’s ready for harvest.

“The batch I just planted will be ready for sale by the end of the year.”

Comparing life in the rural and urban villages, Kirisimasi says that rural villages are the best because it’s so easy to live on your hard works.

“Life here in the back villages is so much better than living in the town areas,” he said.

“If I was to go and live in town and I fail to find a job then I will suffer like many are already. Here in the rural villages, my family can easily live on the plantation.

“Out here we have so many options to get food and money. I am also a talented fisherman and that’s another way of making good money away from my cucumber plantation.

“An example would be that one day I won’t make much money from my cucumbers, I can always go and fish to make some more money. Life is so easy here.”

In the urban villages, if you don’t make money then you will suffer. Kirisimasi says that’s not the case for rural villages.

“To put it simply, we rural villagers can go without money; those in town cannot.” He said.

“In town, if you don’t have money then you will really struggle because you don’t have many options like we do out here.

“I can get taro from the plantation and then eat it with a fish from the ocean.”

By Vatapuia Maiava and Ilia L. Likou 19 November 2016, 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.

>