Change in the Agricultural Land Use in West Upolu, Western Samoa

Abstract

It was because west Upolu has been the first area to undergo modification of its social organization and agricultural production that it was selected as an area to demonstrate the social and economic forces that have acted upon the patterning of land use in Western Samoa.The main body of this report contains three sections, the first of which discusses the history of land use changes that have occurred in west Upolu, with particular emphasis upon events that have contributed significantly to the present scene. The second section analyses and discusses the extent to which socio-economic and environmental factors affect village agriculture today. The concluding section discusses land use change and its relationship to the change in the socio-economic status of the Samoan villager.