It is believed that in “old” Samoa a large part of the population lived away from the coast in the relatively cool upland valleys of the interior where permanent water supply and easily defended sites were available. Selecting sites for their agricultural suitability does not appear to have been a primary concern. Evidence for land degradation through burning and long-persisting land use leading to grasslands and impoverished soils has also been identified from these times.
In the late 1800’s, after European arrival, a shift back towards the coast started and there have been gradual but marked land use changes ever since including the introduction of new crops.
Traditionally the agricultural cycle of taro, ta’amu, and other staple food crops involved about 2 years of production followed by 8-10 years bush fallow. With increasing demands on production, reduction in fallow periods, and shifts to less fertile lands, careful management of soil fertility and minimizing land degradation are critical for achieving sustainable production.
There are three main land use zones in Samoa:
- A coastal zone with an almost continuous canopy of coconut palms. This zone extends inland to varying degrees and frequently supported patches of root crops, cocoa or bananas.
- Inland of the coconut zone was the mixed cropping zone which was dominated by bananas with plantings of cocoa and root crops.
- The third zone which was inland of the mixed cropping zone was the major area, prior to the arrival of taro leaf blight, for taro planting. Plantings of taro were made in newly cleared forest areas with a high content of organic matter. As the economic importance of taro continued to grow the forest edge was continuously pushed further back.
Taro Leaf Blight severely impacted taro production in 1993 following closely damage from cyclone Val. This resulted in major rapid changes from 90% of households growing taro to diversification into alternative crops. Banana production increased as did other root crops such as ta’amu, yams and cassava.
In the 2015 State of Environment Report for Samoa, referring to “Lowland Cultivated areas” – suggests that impacts of cultivation vary widely depending on the agricultural practices used. Agriculture continues to evolve from purely subsistence to semi subsistence and commercialization, due to the demands on a growing population, the continuing shift to a cash-based economy, and technologies. Scaling up from subsistence to semi-commercial and larger scale production, with increased mechanisation and use of modern technologies clearly envisions the transformation of all cultivable lands to crops.
The Agriculture Census 2009 reported a total area under cultivation of 92,310 acres representing 13% of Samoa’s total land area of 2,841 km2 (MAF, 2012).
