Samoa

Country News and Stories

Nurturing Pacific and Indigenous aquaculture
A session on aquaculture development by Pacific Islanders and Indigenous Australians is being sponsored by ACIAR at the Australasian Aquaculture 2012 conference in Melbourne on Thursday 3 May 2012.

ACIAR'S forestry research in Pacific island countries
Forests and trees have great cultural significance for Pacific island people and provide many benefits for subsistence and livelihoods. In some of the Pacific island countries, such as Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, forests have also been commercially exploited and forest industries are important contributors to the national economies. Forests are held under custom landownership, but governments regulate commercial forestry operations. While timber is important, there are many non-timber forest products, which provide significant cash incomes for people in remote locations.

PNG and Pacific Nuis
Get the latest on ACIAR-supported initiatives in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific in the recent issue of PNG and Pacific Nuis produced by ACIAR’s PNG Country office.

Pacific lessons for Indigenous Australians
A group of people from Indigenous communities in north Western Australia are further down the track to developing a new mariculture industry following a course recently supported by ACIAR.

New life for old palms
An ACIAR funded research project has worked to extend the life cycle of the coconut palm. This joint Australia- Fiji-Samoa project is helping transform non-productive senile palms into quality building materials, suitable for flooring, bench tops and furniture. This opportunity provides a new income for farmers and frees up land for more productive agricultural uses.

$10 million to boost agribusiness in the Pacific
Australia will provide $10 million over four years to improve marketing opportunities and boost agribusiness in the Pacific through the Pacific Agribusiness Research for Development Initiative.

Pacific urged to develop niche markets
A new economic report has warned that the 14 Pacific Island nations and East Timor need to develop niche markets for quality agricultural products to help build economic resilience.