The Talomua Festival hosted by Letui, Savaii which aimed at encouraging youth to take up agricultural production and development for their livelihoods was hailed a success.
In attendance was Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Laauli Leuatea Schmidt along with his Associate Minister and executive management team attended the day’s festivities.
The event held last month started off with a lively and colourful parade of youth and children proudly showcasing decorative floats, representing families competing for prizes at the Talomua.
The Minister during his speech encouraged the youth to actively participate in showcasing the village’s agricultural production and development.
He also emphasized the importance of planting more crops to safeguard Samoa’s food and nutrition security and re-iterated the government’s commitment to strengthening grassroots communities with a direct assistance approach.
The Talomua Festival featured a Growers Market where Letui farmers showcased their best crops and livestock to the Judges’ panel, and as part of their role in supporting the village-led agriculture event, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries delivered tools, seedlings and farming equipment including financial assistance to go towards prizes for the winning farmers.
The CEO, Tilafono David Hunter says Letui’s Talomua, was a success due to the entire village coming together to organize and stage the event with enthusiasm and commitment.
Letui’s agricultural event is the fourth Talomua festival held in Decemberas part of the Ministry’s move to implement the new changes, transitioning from the centralised annual agriculture show to a series of events driven by the communities.
The revival of the Talomua concept was initiated to replace the annual Agriculture show with the provincial based Talomua festivals which Tilafono says will lead to more active and meaningful participation from rural villages who can take ownership of their event with support from the Ministry.
