SWAG creates Siamufest as income earning opportunities for women

Apia, SAMOA – 21 March 2024 – The Samoa Women’s Association of Growers (SWAG) has created Siamufest – using several siamu-making workshops to encourage local women to try their hands at sustainable food production and entrepreneurship.

Supported by the Komiti Tina Vavau, over 40 women from the villages of Vavau, Aufaga, and Lotofaga came together to learn from local experts about preserving, focussing on the value of turning local plants, fruits, and vegetables into jams and preservatives.

“We were honoured to work with such an industrious group of women who all brought their own experiences and learning to the discussion,” says Papalii Mele Maualaivao, SWAG Secretary. “Promoting healthy eating and hygienic food preservation could not be possible without our incredibly generous and knowledgeable team of experts, and we are very grateful to our trainers Pearl Blakelock and Miriama Lima, who were once Siamu-fest students themselves.”

Through Siamufest, local women were given the chance to learn about preserving and acquire new skills that can be used to support their families, creating food products with a longer shelf-life, and helping to mitigate the seasonality of local food sources. The workshop also provided a means to empower women economically by teaching them to create value-added products.

A display of locally made jam under the Siamufest initiative.

“Through a skill like preserving, our workshop participants can utilize locally growing fruits and vegetables that are readily available to them, so the cost of production is quite manageable,” says trainer Pearl Blakelock, SWAG member and workshop trainer.

“Products like siamu can be stored and sold at a later date when a certain fruit is out of season, making them even more profitable.”

Leading by example, SWAG members were more than happy to share their own experiences of creating and selling siamu products and how they went from harvesting excess fruit to selling their products through local stores and markets.

“I retired some years ago but making jams and other products like chutneys is now my new full-time job,” says Miriama Lima, SWAG member and workshop facilitator. “I sell my own products through local supermarkets and the SWAG Saturday market, and I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge and experience with other women so they too can create additional sources of income to support their families.”

Divided into four groups, the workshop participants were taught the basic principles of cooking fruit and vegetables for preserving with SWAG volunteers on hand to provide instruction on the technical points of preparation. Of equal importance was the workshops focus on hygiene, with demonstrations of sterilisation of cooking implements and jars, ensuring the longevity and safety of the products.

The village women who attended the first of a series of trainings under the Siamufest initiative.

The best part of this training was getting hands-on experience, making it easy for us to learn and use fruits from our homes to make jams.

“It’s a brilliant way to prevent waste and store fruits and vegetables that often go bad,” said Lusia Auefua from Lotofaga, emphasizing the innovative approach to homemade jams and chutneys.

“We are so used to making jam using sugar and coconut cream – siamu popo, however this is a new and exciting way of making jam using fruits from our own backyard”.

Given the enthusiasm of workshop attendees, SWAG members are hopeful that Siamufest could be a possible catalyst for local enterprise.

“It would be great for some of these women to take what they’ve learnt here today and look at ways to engage in village-based production,” says Project Manager, Ofusina Laulala). “Who knows, we could possibly see a situation where some of these women go on to supply local tourism operations such as hotels or restaurants which would be a fantastic outcome of the training.”

A sentiment not wasted on many of the women who participated in the training.

“This was a great opportunity for the women in our community to learn new ways of making jams using the fruits around us. Making chutneys using vegetables from our gardens was a new experience for all of us and it’s a great way to utilize the vegetables we have. I look forward to making jams and chutneys at home and to eventually sell to the hotels near our village to earn extra income for my family” said Lily Laloulu from Aufaga.

The training is supported through the Tautua Program, a partnership between the Governments of Samoa and Australia, SWAG members will continue their trainings over the next several months, with another workshop planned for Upolu as well as training in Savaii.

“We’re looking at locations in Savaii at the moment,” says Papali’i. “We want to align workshops with the hotel and tourism industry as much as possible to provide sustainable income for future participants. It’s exciting to think about the possibilities and we are grateful that the participants took the opportunity engage with SWAG and take part in this training.”