ABSTRACT
This chapter examines fa’alavelave specifically, to empirically analyse their impact on cattle herds, to conclude whether they are a constraint or a motivation to smallholder cattle farming and to understand their importance and meaning to Samoans. In Samoa a goal for the future might be to be able to support the family in any need that may arise, something of an unsatisfactory answer to someone who is looking for more concrete answers. Questions in the questionnaire to farmers were designed to measure both objective factual reality and subjective perceptions and attitudes; to measure both perceived and actual behaviour. They included both open and closed questions. The village survey in the village of Sato’alepai in Savai’i was conducted in 1994 in order to place the general survey in context. In conclusion, then, just as fa’alavelave have had considerable impact on the farming of cattle in Samoa, so cattle have had considerable impact on the traditional exchanges that are fa’alavelave.
