Welcome To My World Samoa has a population of approximately 190,000 people with 81% identified living in rural areas while 19% makes up the total population based in the urban areas. The Samoan economy is based primarily on a narrow range of activities related to agriculture, tourism, small scale manufacturing and fisheries. For many years, coconuts, cocoa, bananas and coffee exports were the mainstay of the Samoan economy. With the downturn in the world markets, these exports have all stopped with Samoa now reliant on exports of fish, tourism, remittances, and of course foreign aid.

Vision That vulnerable Samoan families will take control of their economic and social development through enhanced entrepreneurial activity that contributes to Samoa becoming a fully independent nation, resilient to natural disasters and external shocks. Mission To provide and empower these families with knowledge and skills, opportunities, access to finance and markets.

Values and Beliefs We take a values-led approach to guide our work. These values are our policies That a sustainable change occurs slowly and requires a long-term commitment That the most vulnerable people in Samoa need to develop sources of income to increase self- reliance and independence That Samoa development requires networking with communities, government and other organizations in Samoa and throughout the Pacific.

Virgin Coconut Oil Family-based ventures Low Technology Decentralisation on-farm processing Awakening the entrepreneur

Virgin Coconut Oil (cont’d) Experiments Organic Certification Fair Trade Financial LiteracyRegional Sharing Succession Planning

Services Training – Organic Farming, Finemat and Handicrafts, Microfinance (Financial Literacy) Preparation for Organic Certification Provide income generating opportunities Find Markets for farmers Farm to Table Project

Markets Markets with aligned values Market loyalty Market patience ◦ Educating markets about Samoa  The Body Shop International (UK)  C1 Espresso (Christchurch – NZ)  All Good Organics (Auckland – NZ)

What makes us different Predominantly women working on and in agriculture products and services Come up with different solutions High flow of communication Long-term leadership ◦ Pragmatic Innovative

What makes us different (cont’d) Open to ideas Embrace traditional and new technologies

Challenges Small HR pool to draw from Donor expectations have changed from poverty alleviation to Return on Investment Need to scale up to supply our markets ◦ Problem of building quantity and quality Increasing transparency and our story telling

“If you can’t hear the farmer’s voice in everything you do, then what you are doing is wrong” Anita Roddick