Village farm programme serving most of the main island's hotels

Transcript

A village farm programme aimed at providing jobs in Samoa is now sending produce to most of the resorts and hotels on the main island.

The Poutasi Farm was set up with help from New Zealand's Tindall Foundation and New Zealand aid through the Volunteer Service Abroad.

As renewable energy projects take off in Samoa, tourism operators say a holistic approach that gives priority to local products is the way forward.

Alex Perrottet reports.

Tuatagaloa Joe Annandale, the chief of Poutasi Village and the owner of Sinalei Reef Resort, says 95 per cent of the resort's menu is sourced locally.

JOE ANNANDALE: We buy from the local fishermen, we buy from the local farmers, we encourage it and we have Poutasi gardens who supply most of the restaurants in Apia and certainly all the resorts and hotels, not only on the south coast but on the Apia side with their green salads and it's been a wonderful development.

Tuatagaloa says the programme provides jobs in the village and is a cash cow that finances other village projects. He says the resort is set to build 27 new premium villas and is looking for investors, as a new way to boost employment opportunities for locals and provide a new concept for Samoan tourism. The marketing manager of the resort, Tau'ili'ili Alise Stunnenberg, says the resort makes it clear to guests what they can expect.

ALISE STUNNENBERG: So they know that money goes right to the farmers, goes to the Poutasi gardens, which is all the workers from the village. So they know that what they're putting into Sinalei stays in Siumu, in the village.

Sinalei, as well as other resorts, such as Seabreeze and the beach fale operations around the country, have given job opportunities to locals for many years. A New Zealand couple who have visited Samoa, Keith and Linda Phillips, say they were impressed by the family atmosphere they saw.

KEITH PHILLIPS: They're delivering terrific benefits to the local community who appreciate it and work harder and try harder and you get a greater quality of service and support from that whole sort of thing and as somebody visiting you actually feel that your participating in something that's good.

LINDA PHILLIPS: They're definitely using the locals because a lot of them could actually do with some more training in terms of how they you know interact with the guests, but you know that's all part of being there in Samoa.

The Poutasi Farm is one way of using locally-made products, and Tau'ili'ili Alise Stunnenberg says there's no point importing expensive foods when people are looking for authenticity. She says the tourism industry is looking forward to September's Small Islands Developing States Conference, which will stretch the capacity of the 134 accommodation providers.

ALISE STUNNENBERG: Whether you're a hotelier, a car rental, a tour operator, if everybody gets together and understand what we need to do to provide a total experience to the guests then I think we can get it right.

Tuatagaloa says his resort is making use of the push to renewable energy, a key focus of the SIDS conference. He says he has installed biodigesters with septic tanks and special gardens for the overflow, as ways of preventing any grey water entering the ocean, and using the water to irrigate parts of the property.

JOE ANNANDALE: The engineers and the people who are promoting this concept, they hope to have two septic systems established before SIDS so that when our guests who are coming to SIDS arrive, we can proudly take them around and show them what we are doing.

He says if the resort's premium villa investment project takes off, the resort can employ at least 30 more people, which is up to 30 local families that could benefit.