COMPARACIÓN DE LOS MODELOS DE COMBUSTIÓN

Governance structures

As mentioned previously, despite previous Western governance, the land, the resources, and the political power have remained at the village level and in the hands of the fono (the village council), matai (chief and head of the extended family) and the ‘āiga (the extended family or kin group). This system of governance known as fa’amatai is based on traditional frameworks where each extended ‘āiga was headed by a matai and it was the matai’s responsibility to oversee the welfare of the family, manage the land that came with the title and represent the ‘āiga in village affairs as part of the fono. While people continue to be governed via fa’amatai and the fono, a number of changes have occurred to fa’amatai.

Current day Samoa is governed by a system that while recognising the traditional system, now incorporates a central government. A system of matai suffrage was introduced upon independence, whereby only matai could stand for election and could vote. In 1978, the pulenu’u committee was established, thus linking central government with the village. Pulenu’u are similar to village mayors, with each village council or fono electing the person they wish to represent them on the pulenu’u committee. Hence the link between government, pulenu’u, fono, matai, and the ‘āiga was made more obvious. In 1990, universal suffrage was introduced for those over the age of 18 years. However, the fact that only matai can stand for election has remained unchanged (So’o et al. 2006:27). To date, rules of mālō (government) are recognised at a national level, however at the village/regional level

the power of fa’amatai remains (Tcherkézoff 2000:125). Hence, there continues to be some contradictions between “traditional customary concepts of governance and the modern democratic governance models” presenting a number of challenges to both the community and the government (GoS et al. 2006:11).

The Samoan economy

The land and the sea are Samoa’s main resources, with 75 per cent of the population still depending on the land and the sea to provide their main income or supplement their income (ADB et al. 2000:4). There is no mineral base (Meleisea 1992:66), and industrial expansion is unlikely due to the distance from major trade routes (Overton and Thaman 1999:25-31). Although of late, Samoa is seen to be the economic success story of the Pacific, with the tourist industry noted as a key contributor to economic growth, accounting for approximately 15 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). The tourism industry is the second largest foreign exchange source after remittances65_{, with the} potential to increase foreign exchange, providing income and employment in the rural areas (GoS et al. 2006:11).

In Samoa 43 per cent of land is thought to be arable; and 13 per cent of this land is considered to have moderate to high fertility (Dunlop 1999:49, Overton et al. 1999:168-9). In terms of usable land, traditional agriculture comprises 80 to 85 per cent of the land area under cultivation, and contributes substantially to GDP (Fairbairn 1991:15, Fairbairn- Dunlop 1994:180). Samoa’s national economy is heavily dependent on its primary products, including agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Production and processing of primary products account for 80 per cent of export earnings, as well as 50 to 60 per cent of the work force (So’o et al. 2006:29). Since the 1970s there have been changing employment patterns, with noted growth occurring in the financial and business sector (0.7 per cent to 7 per cent), in social and personal services (15 per cent to 20 per cent) and in manufacturing (2 per cent to 4 per cent) (So’o et al. 2006:29).

In the early 1990s two major events impacted on the Samoan economy: firstly, two cyclones, Ofa in early 1990 and Val in late 1991, and secondly, the taro leaf blight disease of 1993-1994, which wiped out Samoa’s main export crop. Cyclone Heta in 2004 is also

65 _{Other industries considered to be growing well are fisheries and automotive parts – although it is still} noted they comprise a narrow export base (GoS et al. 2006:4).

noted to have caused much damage (GoS et al. 2006). While the economy has recovered well this is seen to be a reflection of the large aid donations received, the reestablishment of the agricultural industry, growth in the tourist and fishing industry, and benefits that have stemmed from economic reform (ADB et al. 2000:1)66_{. Remittances that stem from} overseas also play a major role. According to ADB et al. (2000), today “the most important and stable source of income in the economy is remittances from Samoans working in New Zealand, Australia and the US” (p.1).

‘Migration, Remittances, Aid and Bureaucracy’ (MIRAB) economy

For a number of decades now, Samoa has utilised to its advantage atypical development opportunities, giving rise to Samoa having a MIRAB economy. The term MIRAB was first conceived by Bertram and Watters (1985) who argued that Pacific Island states had been able to secure and maintain a relatively high standard of living because of the on-going relationships they have in the form of migration and resulting remittances, and aid donations from their previous colonisers. Countries with MIRAB economies “were able to sustain high levels of import consumption, despite long-run trade deficits” (Fraenkel 2006:15), with many MIRAB economies also having government expenditure in excess of locally generated revenue, with the ability to completely finance “their current accounts through aid receipts, service or trust incomes and remittances inflows from migrants working overseas, without recourse to unsustainable borrowing on the capital account” (Fraenkel 2006:15). MIRAB has had such an influence on the economies of Pacific Island nations, that it is actually a model of development in its own right. The components of MIRAB will now be discussed.

Migration and remittances

The first elements in the MIRAB system are Migration (MI) and its accompanying remittances (R) (Bertram and Watters 1985:497). Samoans have been steadily migrating since, and before, the 1980s, when the New Zealand government’s migration quota scheme allowed approximately 1200 Samoans yearly to have residency in New Zealand (GoS 2001:8). While on one hand migration has caused the loss of expertise and skills in

66 _{Samoa is considered to be the darling of the Pacific international aid donor community because of their} success with public reform programmes, the development of private enterprises, rates of economic growth, improvements in human development indices and the provision of sound governance (Dr Donovan Storey 2005, Pers. Comm.; also see the following for accounts that support this statement by Storey http://peb.anu.edu.au/pdf/Samoa%20Update%202003-Salevao.pdf

the labour force, this is outweighed by the fact there are not enough jobs available for those graduating or leaving school (AusAID 2006). For other Pacific Island countries such as Niue or the Cook Islands whereby the phenomenon of migration has depleted the workforce, especially where shortages to the labour forces are fairly severe (Nero cited in Smith 1998:10), the same cannot be said for Samoa67_.

Migration and remittances are very important aspects of the Samoan economy and to the Samoan people as will be shown. Demands of a growing cash economy, and the mobile nature of Samoan people have had a definite bearing on the structure of the household and the family, giving rise to household composition and headship being fluid in nature. Limited economic opportunities within Samoa, various political ties that allow migration, family members already residing in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and the fact that English is taught in schools, means that overseas travel to New Zealand, Australia and the United States is quite comfortable. Consequently, Samoans are frequent travellers. All of these points have relevance to this thesis because they enable all family members, no matter how far away they are, to stay in touch. This has also been made easier for some families with the advent of electronic communication.

When the abovementioned are coupled with the values and beliefs that underpin fa’asamoa, it is easy to understand why family members consider migration as an economic strategy. It is the traditional emphasis on the importance of providing and caring for the family that motivates migration and the sending back of remittances (Bertram 1993, Maiava 2001:31). Maiava (2001:84) in discussing why family members donate cattle to the funeral of a parent, talks about the ideas of equating loving with giving, and the social importance of generosity and demonstrating love and respect. It transpires that these same values identified by Maiava (2001:84) are also the same values that motivate Samoans who migrate to send remittances home. It is the search for betterment for the family that has been a key driver in the ‘MIRAB’ process, noted in this saying “‘leaving in order to stay’ or ‘going away without leaving’. This diaspora is bound into island and village life” (Nietschmann cited in Connell and Conway 2000:72). Between the 1970s and 1980s:

about one third of the Samoan population moved overseas, forming communities in the United States, New Zealand and Australia. In a period of 20 years we became, in effect, a nation without geographic boundaries (Meleisea 2005:78).

67 _{It does need to be noted that Pacific Islands, including Samoa, still suffer the ‘brain drain’ in terms of} skilled and/or professional positions such as nursing (Toelupe 2005:250).

However, not everyone sees the migration and remittance relationship in this way, with many believing it to be untenable and/or an example of failed economics. Some have argued remittances encourage inappropriate consumption and consumerism (Connell and Conway 2000:58), believing that because remittances are not personally earned, recipients do not deserve them. It is also argued that remittances distort island economies; island economies are “weak, vulnerable, powerless and dependent” (Connell and Conway 2000:58). This perspective is noted in the comment made by World Bank’s Denise Aldous who, in speaking to a Pacific Economic Symposium, stated that “remittances fostered a dependency culture and harmed New Zealand’s economy” (Fraenkel 2006:17-18)68_. Connell and Conway (2000) stress:

Remittances and return migrants’ contributions to social and cultural capital accumulation strengthen familial and communal networks and ties. They not only help to maintain these institutions but enlarge their social fields of interaction incorporating them into transnational, multilocal networks of support and empowerment (p.53).

Hau’ofa (1993) noting the importance of remittance practices argues:

Islanders in their homelands are not the parasites on their relatives abroad that misinterpreters of ‘remittances’ would have us believe. Economists do not take account of the social centrality of the ancient practice of reciprocity, the core of all Oceanic cultures. They overlook the fact that for everything homeland relatives receive they reciprocate with goods they themselves produce, maintain ancestral roots and lands for everyone, homes with warmed hearths for travellers to return to at the end of the day, or re-strengthen their bonds, their souls and their identities before they move again. This is not dependence but interdependence, which is purportedly the essence of the global system. To say that it is something else and less is not only erroneous it denies people their dignity (pp.12-13).

For a number of years now Pacific people have formed international networks so as to provide for the family. Thus the people network is paramount, irrespective of locality. Pacific peoples “have grasped the notion of being global citizens and are light years ahead of the rest of us who still feel limited by physical boundaries” (Maiava 2002:3; also see Marsters et al 2006 who makes many of the abovementioned points in relation to the Cook Islands).

Migration and remittances have generally been economically good for the Samoan family, with many families planning long-term by taking migration into account. O’Meara (1990:80) observed families were fairly strategic when planning for long-term financial security, and old age. Most placed one person in a waged job in Apia and one or two overseas. Others remained in the village home and continued to maintain the plantation and care for elderly parents and other dependents.

Since no source of income is adequate or secure enough in itself, most families take a shotgun approach to financial success and old-age security attempting to scatter as many children as widely as possible across the economic landscape (O’Meara 1990:80).

This is a common approach, taken by people all over the developing world, when faced with conditions of economic insecurity; any risks become reduced by “diversifying investments” (O’Meara 1990:80). Bertram (1986:809) argues that aid and remittances are not supplementary to income, rather remittances and aid have been the foundation of the modern Samoan economy.

Regardless of doomsday predictions surrounding remittances, remittances have grown rapidly since the 1980s, and are continuing to rise. In 2005, remittances were recorded as being up 8 per cent on the previous year. Overall, remittance figures are estimated to be 24 per cent of GDP (GoS et al. 2006:6), although this figure does not take into account all of the non-monetary items that are sent, such as clothing, furniture, linen, kitchenware, electronic goods and even vehicles.

While Samoa has a high birth rate of 4.4 per cent, the population growth rate is slow at 1.0 per cent because of out migration (Faafeu-Taaloga 2003:22, GoS 2001:9). As recorded over the last few years, approximately 5000 Samoan’s have been migrating annually to either New Zealand, Australia or the United States (GoS et al. 2006:7). In terms of gender and migration it is noted that more males than females tend to emigrate (GoS 2001).

Aid

The second element in the MIRAB system is aid (A) (Bertram and Watters 1985:499). Under the 1962 Treaty of Friendship it was agreed that the New Zealand government and Samoan government would:

continue to work together to promote the people of Western Samoa. In particular the Government of New Zealand will consider sympathetically requests from the Government of Samoa for technical, administrative and other assistance (GoS et al. 2006:15).

To date, Samoa remains greatly dependent on overseas development assistance (ODA) or aid, which accounts for 14 per cent of GDP (AusAID 2006:1). Both Australia and New Zealand are significant partners in development, accounting for approximately 25 per cent and 12 per cent respectively of the aid received (GoS et al. 2006:Annex B). Other key donors and lenders are the ADB, World Bank, the European Union, China, Canada, Japan, UNDP, and the World Health Organisation in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund; with the total development assistance to Samoa for the 2005-2006 period calculated to be USD$52.3 million, consisting of 35.9 million in grants and 16.4 million in loans (GoS et al. 2006:18).

Bureaucracy

The last element of MIRAB, bureaucracy (B), makes reference to the notion that the government or public sector is the primary cash employer (Bertram and Watters 1985:500). AusAID as part of their development agenda is working with the Samoan government on the continuation of public sector reform, with NZAID taking a lead role in the development of the private sector, which currently contributes around 12 per cent to GDP. Since the mid-nineties key reforms that have occurred have included the privatisation of some government services and state owned enterprises (SOEs), thus between 1987–1996, 21 SOEs were liquidated or privatised (Knapman and Saldanha cited in ADB 2000:61). Hence it does need to be noted that due to public sector reforms this “avenue for job growth is closing” (So’o et al. 2006:29). Despite downsizing, the public sector in Samoa continues to dominate (GoS 2005:6), accounting for 32 per cent of employment in terms of formal job opportunities (GoS et al 2006:10).