Iese Mata'ia

In Samoa, where warriors play a large role in the communal culture, a group of young women and men, also known as the “Organic Warriors” are producing food through more sustainable techniques. This SDG Fund initiative promoted youth employment, especially for those who have dropped out of school and opportunities for young women. Iese Mata’ia is a proud organic warrior who is “grateful to this programme because it has taught us a lot of important things about how to become a successful farmer. We learned about things we didn’t know before. And I think that this is a great programme for all the youth who didn’t do so well in school.” Iese and the other warriors are now building their own small vegetable gardens applying their new knowledge and generating new income opportunities, as many of their organic products are reaching restaurants and the flourishing tourism industry.