Ministry welcomes the arrival of Chinese Agriculture Experts and Engineers.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) and the Samoa – China Agricultural Technical Aid Project (SCAPTAP) welcomed 12 Chinese agricultural experts and civil works engineers on Monday 17 May in a ceremony held at the SCATAP demonstration Farm in Nu’u.
The Chinese Agricultural Expert team arrived on 29 April and were released from quarantine on 13 May after completing their quarantine to begin work on Phase 5 of the SCATAP project. They were officially welcomed by the Caretaker Minister Hon Lopao’o Natanielu Mu’a and H.E Ambassador Chao Xiaoliang as well as the Management team from the Ministry.
SCATAP Phase V aims to increase the technical level and production capacity of vegetables, citrus and broilers in Samoa which will be achieved by strengthening agricultural extensions, building agricultural facilities, providing agricultural machineries and carrying out agricultural training.
In his keynote address, H.E Ambassador Chao Xiaoliang welcomed the new team of Agriculture Experts and encouraged them to build on the successes of the last 4 phases since the SCAPTAP project which was established in 2010 and has benefited more than 10,000 people.
“Since 2010, the Chinese Government has dispatched 40 Chinese agricultural experts to work in Samoa. Large quantity of China Aided resources such as tunnel houses, seeds and machineries were directly allocated to model farmers” said Ambassador Xiaoliang. “Many agricultural technical packages were tailored for the farmers’ needs in Samoa and agricultural training has benefited more than 10,000 people.
“I am happy to announce the SCATAP Phase V has started implementation at full speed. Some project goods have arrived in Samoa and many are on the way. The affiliated civil works of the project will be launched soon. I am confident that the SCATAP Phase V will increase the production of vegetables, citrus, and broilers in Samoa and result in the increase of farmers’ incomes as well as promote friendly relationships between Samoa and China.”
Caretaker Minister Hon Lopao’o welcomed the team of Chinese Experts by acknowledging with appreciation the warm friendship and excellent working relationship between the two governments and made special mention of all the SCATAP experts from China who have contributed immensely to the development of Agriculture and Fisheries in Samoa in the last 10 years.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and especially our farmers welcome the expansion and diversification of phase 5 to include (1) citrus production to extend the fruiting seasons throughout the year, and (2) broiler chicken production via the use of locally produced feeds, to assist our subsistence poultry farmers to produce more chickens given the huge volumes of imported chicken meat annually”, said Hon Lopao’o.
The SCATAP Phase V will be guided by the theory of “ecological agriculture, recycling agriculture and low carbon-agriculture” with activities being planned to consolidate agricultural extension system, construct feed mill and other facilities.
The Project has plans to add 56 new model farmers in vegetable, citrus and chicken production by providing 60 new tunnel houses, planting 1000 high quality citrus trees and raising 10,000 broilers per year, supplying 80 sets of agriculture machinery and equipment. In addition 3,020 person-times of agricultural training for farmers and professionals will be conducted by the SCATAP team for the duration of Phase V.