Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
terms of maintaining their traditions and culture, their strong Christian beliefs and
the allure of their tropical environments. Although the levels of urbanization and re-
sponses to food insecurity are different, they both offer useful lessons to the region
in coping with similar problems through alternative, botom-up approahes. At the
local level, where grass-roots responses emerge, small-scale and community-based
initiatives are influencing official policy making. This is not surprising as, worldwide,
towns and cities can (and do) pursue and implement alternative solutions to urban
problems that may not reflect broader national policy.
Case study: local food production in Samoa and Fiji
Samoa
Samoa was the first PIC to regain its independence in 1962 and is currently exper-
iencing rapid urban growth in Apia, the nation's capital, on Upolu Island. Samoa's
population (180,000) is unequally divided between the two largest islands of Upolu
(76 per cent) and Savai'i (24 per cent). On Upolu, the lines differentiating 'urban'
from 'rural' food production are not entirely visible due to the fluid nature of move-
ments and flows of people, food and other resources between rural and urban house-
holds and markets. As urban expansion continues, UPA as a distinct system will be-
come clearer. Moreover, perhaps former colonial industrial areas near Apia represent
newly contestable peri-urban zones. In any case, this urbanization trend is visible on
Samoa's more traditional or 'rural' island, Savai'i, where the harbour village, Salelo-
loga, is the focal point for inter-island transfers of goods and services, and provides
a busy marketplace for intra-island trade. It is also the first port-of-call for tourists
visiting the island. Salelologa is being developed as a secondary growth node (or
town), to service the needs of the island's residents and to stem the inter-island flow
of rural-urban job seekers to Apia. The Apia urban area includes a collection of sur-
rounding villages, comprising 52 per cent of Upolu's population. Although eah vil-
lage has its
own matai
(hief led system) of governance, social structure and custom-
ary land tenure, they are evolving as part of an emergent Apia 'metro' district. Like
other South Paciic island states, subsistence agriculture is the overarhing house-
hold activity in the villages. Muh of the local food and non-food production is sold
at Fugalei Market, in Apia.
