Project Overview
Commodities
- Fruits: avocados, bananas, citrus, figs, papaya, breadfruit, pomegranate, jackfruit, mango, coconut
- Vegetables: beans, cabbages, cucurbits, eggplant, greens (leafy), greens (lettuces), okra, onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, taro, tomatoes, morongai (horseradish tree), chaya (tree spinach), malabar spinach, water spinach (kangkong)
- Additional Plants: nitrogen fixing and mulch producing trees
- Animals: fish, poultry
- Animal Products: eggs, meat
Practices
- Animal Production: aquaculture, manure management
- Crop Production: agroforestry, alley cropping, contour farming, cover crops, cropping systems, crop rotation, forest farming, irrigation, municipal wastes, no-till, nurseries, nutrient management, windbreaks
- Education and Training: decision support system, demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, technical assistance, workshop, youth education
- Farm Business Management: cooperatives, farm-to-institution, farm-to-restaurant, grant making, marketing management, value added
- Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration, soil stabilization
- Pest Management: cultural control, mulches - general, mulches - living, mulching - vegetative
- Production Systems: aquaponics, permaculture
- Soil Management: composting, organic matter, soil quality/health, sheet mulch
- Sustainable Communities: partnerships, public policy, urban agriculture
Abstract:
Three overlapping programmatic thrusts or threads:
Food security & subsistence agriculture
Linking local production to government procurement and local markets
Promoting sustainable agricultural production practices, both modern and traditional.
The recent impact of COVID-19 on our island and people's increased and personal awareness of island and family food insecurity, has strengthened our previous years' growing awareness of the need to promote subsistence agriculture. In the process we have continued to identify new & non-traditional partners. Our WSARE PDP program has curriculum suitable for adapting to these needs. In response to recent findings and events, Guam PDP will continue to work with existing and new advisory committee members to identify and address issues impacting food security. Given the recent complete island shutdown from a resurgence of COVID-19 due to mainland arrivals, this proposal was developed based on a meeting of core group from our advisory committee and one on one discussions with other participants in the agriculture sector. This period's topics include, but are not limited to: subsistence and commercial production systems, soil and water conservation practices, farm planning, government procurement of local ag. products, wholesale and retail market channel entry, permaculture, agroforestry, home, school, and community gardening, food security issues, promotion of government programs, and promotion of WSARE grants. During this period Guam WSARE will support efforts to develop a communication network (using Zoom) of sustainable agricultural professionals across the American-affiliated Western Pacific. We will a also continue to explore the delivery of programs through online platforms, publications, and videos.
Updates:
Final Year (1/2024 to 12/2024)
During the final phase, workshops conducted in collaboration with partners and the use of on-campus demonstration sites supported efforts to improve both family-level and island-wide food security. The New Farmer Training for Small Acreages: Microplot to 1-Acre Producers series consisted of seven half-day Saturday sessions, where participants learned from agricultural professionals through classroom instruction and hands-on activities at the Guam WSARE demonstration site. Additionally, grant writing workshops and several one-on-one meetings were held to support participants in developing and submitting grant proposals.
Third Year (1/2023 to 12/2023)
In the wake of the impacts of Super Typhoon Mawar on Guam, addressing family and island-wide food insecurity remains a pressing concern. In light of recent findings and the challenges brought, Guam PDP is dedicated to collaborating with both existing and new members of our advisory committee and recognize the importance of engaging discussions with key stakeholders in the agriculture sector. A key activity during the latter half of this year was to focus on typhoon recovery, rebuilding demonstrations, and project efforts. The team continues to seek innovative and non-traditional partnerships to address this critical issue and our team offers a curriculum that can be adapted to meet the evolving needs of our community.
Post COVID (1/2022 to 12/2022)
Hold face-to-face WSARE Advisory Committee needs assessment meeting for Post COVID collaborative partner program plan development. Continue facilitation of the COVID efforts with local government agencies providing meals, to increase utilization of local produce. Addressing island food security through curriculum development and restarting on campus demonstrations of: micro-plot forest gardens, recirculating aquaculture/aquaponics, livestock dry litter, backyard nursery production and various subsistence gardening systems. While still using Zoom as a tool for meetings, face-to-face interactions with partners and clients is again the primary outreach method for program events. Hold multiple on island WSARE grant writing workshops face to face and online workshops for Western Pacific Land Grant partners through the use of Zoom and the WSARE sponsored network of WSARE island liaisons. Meet with leader's in Guam's hospitality industry by including them in the year's WSARE Advisory Committee needs assessment and strategic planning meeting. Secure supplemental WSARE funding for a 64 hour Hawaii Master Food Preserver train the trainer workshop on Guam (placed in WSARE WSP19-029).
COVID Recovery (1/2021 to 12/2021)
Continued to address island food security in terms of the COVID impacts by facilitating the FCAG's COVID safe curbside bag effort and work with local government agencies providing meals and emergency food supplies in procurement of local produce. In the post-COVID period we were able to start re-engaging with our partners in face to face meetings as well as online (ZOOM). We were able to utilize face to face in our efforts to increase grant submissions by conducting WSARE grant writing workshops in collaboration with partners to address the massive influx of agricultural support needs of our stakeholders. This period also saw the beginning efforts to re-establish connections with the Guam's hospitality industry (the slowest sector or our economy to recover). Post-COVID Guam WSARE Advisory Group was reduced to 2 co-coordinators 4 Ag professional and farm group representatives to facilitate online meetings to address reprogramming for COVID response. These identified food security issues and value of subsistence agriculture systems for and food security as a key topic.
Project objectives:
Objective 1. Increase island food security through the promotion of subsistence agriculture, agroforestry, and other sustainable agriculture systems for Guam's limited resource families micro-plot forest gardens should reduce spending on food and provide family food diversity. Selected agroforestry practices and micro-plot utilization directly alleviates many of the most pressing constraints reported by our regions farmers: poor rocky soils, lack of weed control, sloping land, and limited time/labor, equipment, and capital. Agroforestry practices such as mulching, for example, enriches the soil and suppresses weed growth. More importantly, a micro-plot approach addresses time, labor, equipment, and capital limitations by maximizing the productivity of a small plot of land. Increasing the abilities of many families to produce on the lands they have, will stabilize and grow and agricultural production community.
Objective 2. Increase government procurement of local produce in their meal programs. This will be done by linking government procurement to local production and local markets by working with existing and new PDP partners to support Governor’s program to relink government food procurement to local agricultural products. PDP will lead the building of new partnerships and guide the implementation of targeted marketing programs.
Objective 3. Increase capacity of outreach professionals to support farmer implementation of sustainable agriculture practices. PDP will promote sustainable agricultural production practices, both modern and traditional (agroforestry) through curriculum development and by promoting SARE grants through grant writing workshops. Also, will lead collaborations among agriculture professionals to develop curriculum, demonstrations, workshops, and project plans/proposals. Explore online program development activities and workshop delivery for these efforts.
Updates:
Final Year (1/2024 to 12/2024)
Objective 1. The "New Farmer Training for Small Acreages: Microplot to 1-Acre Producers" series consisted of seven half-day Saturday sessions, where participants learned from agricultural professionals through classroom instruction and hands-on activities at the Guam WSARE demonstration site.
Objective 2. Re-engaged with the Micronesian Chef's Association.
Objective 3. Grant writing workshops and several one-on-one meetings were held to support participants in developing and submitting grant proposals.
Third Year (1/2023 to 12/2023)
Objective 1. Addressing island food security through curriculum development and restarting on campus demonstrations of: micro-plot forest gardens, recirculating aquaculture/aquaponics, livestock dry litter, backyard nursery production and various subsistence gardening systems. After Super Typhoon Mawar, many of our demonstrations have been completely devastated. During this period, work has been done to get the sites re-established for upcoming workshops and tours. In collaboration with the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the team will be developing village-based agroforestry demonstration sites in Inarajan and Yigo. The sites will provide an opportunity for participants to get hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture practices and receive curriculum from the Guam WSARE PDP team.
Objective 2. Re-establish connections with leader's in Guam's hospitality industry by including them in the year's WSARE Advisory Committee need assessment and strategic planning meeting. Held face-to-face WSARE Advisory Committee needs assessment meeting for collaborative partner program plan development and attended multiple meetings with chef leaders.
Objective 3. Increase Guam WSARE grant submissions. This was done by holding numerous meetings with faculty and producers on the various WSARE grant programs.
Post COVID (1/2022 to 12/2022)
Objective 1. Continued facilitation the FCAG's COVID efforts with local government agencies providing meals, to increase utilization of local produce. Addressing island food security through curriculum development and restarting on campus demonstrations of: micro-plot forest gardens, recirculating aquaculture/aquaponics, livestock dry litter, backyard nursery production and various subsistence gardening systems. While still using Zoom as a tool for meetings, face-to-face interactions with partners and clients is again the primary outreach method for program events.
Objective 2. Increase grant submissions in collaboration with partners to hold multiple on island WSARE grant writing . This was by holding face-to-face workshop on Guam and online for Western Pacific Land Grant partners through the use of Zoom and the WSARE sponsored network of WSARE liaisons.
Objective 3. Started re-establish connections with leader's in Guam's hospitality industry by including them in the year's WSARE Advisory Committee need assessment and strategic planning meeting. Hold face-to-face WSARE Advisory Committee needs assessment meeting for Post COVID collaborative partner program plan development. Guam Coordinator (Barber) attended the WSARE PDP 2022 meeting held in Cody Wyoming. In November 2022, secured supplemental WSARE funding for a 64 hour Hawaii Master Food Preserver train-the -trainer workshop on Guam.
COVID Recovery (1/2021 to 12/2021)
Objective 1. Restart by facilitating the FCAG's COVID safe curbside bag effort and reengage with local government agencies providing meals to congregate and home-bound clients. Work with the Department of Public Health and Social Services to provide mixed local product bags to over 3,000 of their clients.
Continue to address island food security in terms of the COVID impacts and trainings that address island food security through the promotion of micro-plot forest gardens to reduce spending on food and providing family food diversity. This involves re-starting on campus demonstrations and reestablish the training support infrastructure for train-the-trainer curriculum development and delivery. Reconnect with local and federal agricultural professionals through online and face-to-face meetings and workshops on new additions to the Guam WSARE New Farmer Curriculum.
Objective 2. Increase grant submissions in collaboration with partners to address the massive influx of agricultural information needs by stakeholders. Re-engagement in this initiative with our local and regional partners through zoom but also began having face-to-face meetings and workshops particularly WSARE grant writing workshops
Objective 3. During this period began reconnecting with leaders in the hospitality industry by including them in zoom meeting and grant writing workshop invitations.