Finance Minister asks ADB for Easier Loan Access for Samoan Farmers

By Lagi Keresoma

APIA, SAMOA – 08 SEPTEMBER 2022: The Minister for Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Molio’o was direct in asking the Asian Development Bank (ADB) representatives who visited Samoa last week about relaxing some of the Bank’s stringent conditions on loan applications for Samoan farmers.

These are loans from the ADB funded Samoa Agribusiness Support- SABS project where only a few Samoan farmers have been able to access due to the stringent conditions.

The ADB team Leader, Vimlesh Bharat met with the Minister and also toured several farms funded under SABS together with the Minister of Social Development, Leota Laki Sio and officers from the Australian High Commission.

With the impact of COVID-19 on farmers, Mulipola believes that ADB should at least relax some of its restrictions and make loan applications and process easier for Samoan farmers.

Mulipola believes this is one of the barriers that had limited some of the local farmers from progressing forward.

She emphasized this to ADB Team Leader Vimlesh Bharat and also the need for ADB to work on their awareness program especially on the assistance they can offer local farmers.

“There are farmers and business people who believe that ADB only associates itself with the Government and are not aware that they, as individuals, can apply directly to ADB through SABS,” said Mulipola.

She commends farmers who have utilised ADB funding, but there are a lot of small farmers in the country who have no idea that such opportunities are available.

ADB Team Leader, Vimlesh Bharat at a Dragon fruit farm at Aleisa.

Reverting unused project funds back to ADB
One of the issues she is very disappointed about is how some of the funds meant for development are reverted back to ADB after the set project period is up and the funds have not been fully utilized.

Mulipola said these funds are meant to be used and often, the local agents representing international finance institutions including Government agencies, return unused funds without considering how these funds could help change someone’s life through development projects.

Last week, Mulipola accompanied the ADB team and joined by the Minister for Women, Community & Social Development (MWCSD), Leota Laki Lamositele Sio and Australia’s High Commissioner to Samoa and her team in visiting 5 local farms funded under SABS.

While some of the farms such as Sunshine Farm Limited owned by businessman Frankie Cai, Samoa Meat Supplies Limited and Taro King are well established, some of the other farms are still struggling to get through the first step – and that is getting financial assistance to start the farm.

Minister for Finance Mulipola Anarosa Molio’o and the ADB Team Leader Vimlesh Bharat at Frankie’s poultry farm at Tanumalala.

One of them is a couple working on a 5 acre land at Afiamalu where they plant taro and supply two hotels in town.

They said the land they work on is very fertile but part of the land is very rocky.

The couple said they applied for a loan to buy a small excavator to help remove the rocks and level the field. However, it’s been 4 years and still waiting for a response. So they took a friends’ advice and tried ADB through SABS but they could not meet some of the criteria in the application form.

Mulipola said the initiative to assist farmer’s development is always defeated by conditions in the application agreement, and the less people apply, the more chances for these funds to be returned.

Whilst some farmers and businesses have given up trying, others are fortunate to have loans approved for the second time.

One of the farms visited was granted its first loan of $175,000 in 2016, and the second loan of $200,000 in 2018. The business has since expanded from its one location to two more locations in Upolu and one in Savaii.

Dora Mapusua’s farm at Aleisa shows promising progress with the addition of more fruits to the variety of vegetables grown.

Dora grows and sells green vegetables to the local produce market and supermarkets.

Bharat was quite impressed and interested in the dragon fruit which grows well on Dora’s farm.

Mulipola said this is the kind of development and progress the Government wants to see happen to local farmers and businesses.

Having visited the farms and heard directly from the farmers, Mulipola hopes ABD will respond and accommodate changes so the process will be easier for local farmers to access the project funds.