Tapatapaō village gifts first Talomua produce to Home for the Aged

Staff Reporters

APIA, SAMOA – 29 APRIL 2022: The village of Tapatapaō gifted the bulk of their agricultural produce displayed at their Talomua at the village yesterday to the elders at the Home for the Aged at Mapuifagalele and the Carmelite Sisters at Vailima.

Talomua is the first harvest based on an age old Samoan custom that has been adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to display the best of the agricultural and fisheries products to drive food security as well as earnings for farmers through the sale of their products in the local and export markets.

The Talomua is now run in the districts and is left to the villager farmers and leaders to organize and replaces the national agricultural shows usually run either in Apia or a selected location in Savaii.

Farmers from Tapatapaō and neighbouring villages came to witness the display of a variety of root crops, vegetables, fruits as well as tilapia and freshwater eels farmed in the nearby freshwater ponds.

The Talomua was organized and coordinated by one of the farmers of Tapatapaō village, Fausa Sugalu Pasia. The event was supposed to take place a few weeks ago but was delayed due to the Covid-19 nationwide lockdown.

The farmers’ representative Mrs. Fulu Maselina Nauer, relayed their request to the government for assistance in order to improve electricity and phone network coverage for some parts of the village.

The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Afioga La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt, congratulated the organisers and expressed his appreciation of the farmers and fishers’ efforts in organising a successful event, and assured them that the collaboration between the Government and the Tapatapaō village will continue for their community developments.

The Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea and Tapatapao village farmers with some of their produce on display.

The Minister encouraged the village to look into establishing tilapia aquaculture to invest in as one of their future projects under the District Development Funding Scheme, and to request the government for financial and technical assistance under the project.

The village gifted a variety of agricultural produce for the Minister as a token of their appreciation. Then the rest of the Talomua produce were donated for the elders at Mapuifagalele at Vailele and the Carmelite sisters at Vailima.

The Ministry provided five hundred seedlings of coconut and fruit trees, packets of vegetable seeds as well as some farming tools and equipment for the Tapatapaō village farmers.