Biodiversity and ecosystem services are at the heart of sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and contributing to national development goals and objectives.

Ecosystem-based approaches to agriculture – that build on the natural ecosystem from soil fertility, ecological management of pests and weeds, integrated and organic farming systems – to deliver better outcomes for food and nutrition security and reduce negative environmental influences. In addition, ecosystem-based agriculture can open up more opportunities for tourism and eco-tourism sectors and build resilience of communities to the impacts of climate change.

FAO in partnership with the Samoa Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), and in collaboration with the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Pacific Community (SPC) organized a policy dialogue on the role of ecosystem services and biodiversity in agricultural production in the country. The event – organized under the EU-funded project “Capacity Building related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries Phase 2” brought together key national stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health the Federated Farmers Association, Samoa Farmers Association and the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community.

The meeting was officially opened by Hon. Lemalu Taefu Lemi Taefu, Associate Minister for MNRE, who welcomed the workshop as a key effort in developing a roadmap to strengthen existing synergies between the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements related to chemicals and to biodiversity, by mainstreaming ecosystem-based models of agriculture in Samoa.

FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands, Eriko Hibi, stressed how “concrete solutions are needed to acknowledge and value the role of agro-ecosystem services and biodiversity, and to mainstream a more sustainable paradigm of agricultural production that is in line with FAO’s vision of a world free from hunger and malnutrition where food and agriculture contribute to increase the living standards of all in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable way”.

The two-day training workshop was the first step in developing a roadmap to facilitate a transformational shift towards ecosystem-based agriculture and reduce reliance on agro-chemical use in Samoa. The meeting facilitated the stocktaking of existing national policies and cross-sectoral coordination mechanisms, considered relevant to the task of creating an enabling environment that can support farmers uptake of ecosystem-based agriculture.

The Samoa Development Strategy (SDS) provided the framework for strengthening biodiversity and ecosystem services aspects of the Samoa National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), the National Environment Sector Plan (NESP) and the National Agriculture Sector Plan (NASP). Other national sector plans, such as Tourism and Health were also considered important to making a shift towards ecosystem-based agriculture.

The participants were presented with case studies, as well as policy measures that support the uptake of ecosystem-based agricultural practices from around the Pacific islands and across the world. Building on existing policies and national coordination mechanisms under the SDS, and incorporating good practices from around the world, MNRE and MAF will now draft a Samoa implementation roadmap to support and promote the uptake of ecosystem-based practices in agriculture. The roadmap will strengthen Samoa’s institutional capacity in achieving important international goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

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