Samoa is a highly desirable holiday destination, yet the realities of life for many residents make it far from a paradise. This Christmas, the Oxfam Unwrapped appeal may mean friends and family get something a whole lot more meaningful than another pair of socks.

New Zealanders can now buy each other, for example, $10 worth of virtual organic bananas, thus contributing funds which Oxfam will use to help farmers in Samoa and other Pacific Islands to become certified organic producers so they can, in turn, command higher prices for their export produce.

Buying a friend a virtual goat dispatches a locally sourced, vaccinated goat to a family, providing milk and crop fertiliser—and for the  f that just keeps giving, the first-born kid goes to yet another family.