08.04.2013 Views

The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...

The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...

The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

ight quality <strong>of</strong> products from these suppliers. For farmers and snack suppliers the mean<br />

is higher at 4.20 and 4.13 respectively. <strong>The</strong>refore, the ability to source supply to meet<br />

demand from these suppliers can be concluded as neither very easy nor extremely<br />

difficult.<br />

Table 6. 5 Ability to source supply to meet demand<br />

Suppliers N Mean<br />

Farmers, fruit and coconut growers from neighbour<strong>in</strong>g islands sell their produce directly<br />

to tourist hotels and resorts accord<strong>in</strong>g to the latter’s requirements. Resorts and hotels<br />

that are outside Male’ atoll f<strong>in</strong>d it better to have regular supplies delivered directly by<br />

farmers than purchas<strong>in</strong>g from the <strong>Local</strong> Market <strong>in</strong> Male’. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Local</strong> Market <strong>in</strong> Male’ is<br />

the central marketplace for local products where produce from all over the country are<br />

brought to be sold.<br />

Frequency scale<br />

Very Easy Extremely difficult<br />

1 2 3 4 5 6 7<br />

Fishermen 12 3.08 4 - 4 1 1 2 -<br />

Mar<strong>in</strong>e<br />

farmers<br />

8 5.38 - - 1 - 3 3 1<br />

Farmers 10 4.20 1 - 3 2 1 2 1<br />

Fruit<br />

growers<br />

Snack<br />

suppliers<br />

Coconut<br />

growers<br />

12 3.67 2 1 4 - 2 3 -<br />

8 4.13 - - 4 2 - 1 1<br />

9 3.78 1 1 3 1 1 1 1<br />

Farm<strong>in</strong>g is not conducted <strong>in</strong> all the atolls. Depend<strong>in</strong>g on the fertility <strong>of</strong> the soil, farm<strong>in</strong>g<br />

is conducted on a commercial scale only <strong>in</strong> some atolls and some are well known for<br />

produc<strong>in</strong>g certa<strong>in</strong> varieties <strong>of</strong> fruit or vegetable. For example, Thoddu <strong>in</strong> Ari Atoll is a<br />

productive island <strong>in</strong> farm<strong>in</strong>g a range <strong>of</strong> vegetables and fruits. Thoddu is particularly<br />

well known for watermelon farm<strong>in</strong>g. Similarly, islands <strong>in</strong> the south <strong>Maldives</strong> <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />

Addu Atoll and Fua Mula have lots <strong>of</strong> mango trees. <strong>The</strong>se islands provide a large<br />

supply <strong>of</strong> mangoes to the market dur<strong>in</strong>g mango season. Although coconut is widely<br />

grown throughout the country, some islands, for example Kashidhu island <strong>in</strong> Male’<br />

Atoll, are among the most productive islands <strong>in</strong> coconut grow<strong>in</strong>g.<br />

<strong>The</strong> significance <strong>of</strong> this variation <strong>in</strong> farm<strong>in</strong>g activities and productivity among the atolls<br />

and islands is that those bus<strong>in</strong>esses <strong>in</strong> close physical proximity to farm<strong>in</strong>g islands are<br />

125

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!