增强增长能力：支持萨摩亚妇女在农业综合企业中发挥领导作用

Empowering Growth: Supporting Women in Samoa to Lead the Way in Agribusiness

Key Points

• Context and Background:

  • Women in Samoa have traditionally held significant status within the family and community, but their roles are often overlooked in formal economic statistics.
  • Despite lower levels of formal workforce participation and concentration in vulnerable informal employment, women play a crucial role in various sectors, including agriculture.

• Impact of the Pandemic:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted Samoa’s economy, employment, and livelihoods.
  • Women were disproportionately affected, reporting reduced work hours and lower income.

• Project Overview:

  • The Samoa Agribusiness Support (SABS) project, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Australia, aimed to support women-owned-and-led agribusinesses.
  • The project supported 26 women-owned-and-managed businesses, providing financial and business development assistance for equipment procurement and marketing activities.

• Challenges and Opportunities:

  • Women face constraints such as unequal land rights, limited access to credit, and prevailing gender stereotypes.
  • The project helped expand the operations of women-owned agribusinesses, improving market access and resilience against economic shocks.

• Tailored Support:

  • Broader efforts are needed to address women’s needs in agribusiness, improve compliance standards, and enhance support for women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the informal sector.

• Statistics and Data:

  • In 2019, women held 43% of senior management positions and 23.7% of director positions on the boards of public bodies.
  • 35% of microbusinesses and 37% of small and medium-sized enterprises in Samoa are owned or led by women.

• Case Study:

  • The SABS project partnered with four commercial banks to provide loans to 34 businesses since 2014.
  • Support included 50% partial cash collateral for the first loan, increasing to 80% after review, and supplementary seed capital at zero interest rate, limited to 25% of total subproject costs or $0.1 million per agribusiness.

By focusing on enhancing women's participation in agribusiness, the SABS project not only boosted economic resilience but also challenged traditional gender norms, empowering women to lead in an industry crucial to Samoa’s future.