The purpose of the HIES survey is to obtain information on the income, consumption pattern and incidences of poverty for different groups of people in Samoa. This information will be used to guide policy makers in framing socio-economic developmental policies and in initiating financial measures for improving economic conditions of the people.
Some more specific outputs from the survey includes:
"The impacts of the 1997-1998 El Nino are
fresh in our minds, and the latest reports from
the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) confirm tvhat all of you
already know changes in climate matter to
individuals, communities, businesses and
governments who call islands home. Your
valuable natural resources, traditional ways of
life, critical economic sectors, community support
infrastructure, atid, to a great extent, your
future, depend on developing an effective