Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Su’a Alexander Jennings, is concerned that American Samoa is losing out on the opportunity to be one of the test sites for a pilot program for manufacturing ulu flour that could benefit the Territory enormously. Lawmaker Pulelei’ite Li’amatua Tufele who initiated the discussion during the House regular session this week echoed his concerns. Pulelei’ite stated that this is a project the territory should invest in.

The Pacific Regional Breadfruit Initiative (PRBI) team brought together by the Hawaii Pacific Business Center Program at UH Manoa is on track in the product development and commercialization side of the push to bring breadfruit forward as a modern-day “super food”.  (Read Samoa News update on the project in the Monday, July 27 issue.)

The House Agriculture Committee Chairman told Samoa News that a meeting with the Fono originally scheduled for this week and been canceled and this was confirmed by an e-mail he received from Business Center head, Papali’i  Dr Failautusi Avegalio.

Su’a told Samoa News that it’s his intention to salvage this project and convince PRBI, Department of Interior and the American Samoa Government to continue with plans to conduct testing in American Samoa in December as proposed. Su’a is soliciting the help of the House Commerce and Samoan Affairs Committees and is looking at holding a hearing on this matter in the near future.

Papali’i in his email to Su’a, which was obtained by Samoa News, thanked the Chairman for being asked to conduct a presentation before the Fono.  However, he declined the invitation saying that it “regretfully could not be accepted due to local considerations.”

He went on to say, “In spite of four public presentations that included one for the cabinet, local circumstances are not as ideally aligned as we had hoped. I fully agree and appreciate the Office of Internal Affair's concerns regarding assurances of support and endorsement from the Office of the Governor, traditional leaders, ASCC and Department of Agriculture to the village communities prior to engagement at the levels we are at currently.”

Papalii also acknowledged the Director of Commerce and Keniseli Lafaele, “who was the only government official to encourage support for the Pacific Regional Breadfruit Initiative, but also understands his obligations to the Governor's priorities that, for now, lie elsewhere.

“We have conducted four PBRI presentations sponsored by DOC over the past two years for public awareness and two international conferences between American Samoa and Samoa, both in Pago Pago, at the invitation of DOC. We were looking forward to a public presentation at the Fono to your Committee on Agriculture that has been postponed. We will therefore move on with other jurisdictions that want to pursue this opportunity immediately.  We hope to re engage with American Samoa, but will do so when invited.”

Papali’i commended Su’a for his interest and desire to champion the Pacific Regional Breadfruit Initiative in American Samoa. “We've received very great interest particularly in Samoa, Fiji and French Polynesia where Pago Pago's potential as a gateway for gluten free breadfruit flour and products to the U.S. market served as a compelling attraction. It is very viable and we hope to be able to pursue this diminishing window given the opportunity before the window closes. We will always be open, when the time is right, to actively and substantively engage American Samoa.

Papali’i urged Su’a to continue to keep the PRBI in mind as they work their networks and support links that can align with the energies essential to making a reality in American Samoa and asked that if there are any questions or concerns to be directed to him so that they can be answered with respect and consideration to prevent little things from becoming big things, and big things from becoming unmanageable.

“So many delays could be easily overcome by such a simple process. We will stand ready as we always have.”

BACKGROUND

Su’a told Samoa News that National Geographic wrote a piece on the benefits of the ulu. He quoted the article saying that “starchy and packed with nutrients, breadfruit isn’t a typical fruit. And while this cousin of the mulberry may not be at the top of anyone’s dream menu, it could be the key to food security in part of the world. That’s because breadfruit is high in complex carbohydrates (the kind that are good for you), protein, and micronutrients like iron and zinc. And compared to white rice and potatoes, breadfruit scores lower on the glycemic index, so it won’t shock your blood sugar. That’s good news for the Pacific Islands where diabetes rates are soaring, largely due to the influx of imported processed foods.”