12 Oct 2017

Samoa agriculture ministry starts chicken breeding farm to reduce imports

6:56 pm on 12 October 2017

Samoa's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has launched an import substitution project with a chicken breeding farm at the ministry's livestock division.

Samoa Chicken Breeding Farm

Samoa Chicken Breeding Farm Photo: RNZI/Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia

The project is funded by the World Bank at a cost of around $US90,000 dollars and opened on Tuesday, amid hopes it can extend around the country.

The new minister of agriculture and fisheries, Lopao'o Natanielu Mu'a, said Samoa was one of the largest importers of chicken meat in the Pacific.

He said he hoped the initiative would boost local poultry farms and cut imports.

He said it was also important to note that Samoa had no more than 500,000 free range chickens at any one time.

"So we will have a long way to go to reduce our chicken meat imports, however this is the start", he said.