2018 University of Guam PDP Project

View the project final report

Commodities

• Agronomic: radish (oilseed, daikon, forage), sugarcane
• Fruits: bananas, berries (other), citrus, figs, papaya, Soursop, breadfruit, pomegranate, jackfruit, avocado, mango, sweetsop, coconut, tamarind, ice cream beam tree
• Nuts: seeded breadfruit, pacific almond
• Vegetables: beans, cabbages, cucurbits, eggplant, greens (leafy), greens (lettuces), okra, onions, peppers, radishes (culinary), sweet potatoes, taro, tomatoes, morongai (horse radish tree), chaya (tree spinach), malabar spinach, water spinach (kang kong)
• Additional Plants: coffee, ginger, herbs, trees, nitrogen fixing and mulch producing trees
• Animals: fish, poultry
• Animal Products: eggs, meat

Practices

• Crop Production: agroforestry, alley cropping, contour farming, cover crops, crop improvement and selection, cropping systems, crop rotation, forest farming, intercropping, irrigation, multiple cropping, municipal wastes, no-till, nurseries, windbreaks
• Education and Training: decision support system, demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, focus group, mentoring, networking, technical assistance, workshop, youth education
• Farm Business Management: agritourism, cooperatives, farm-to-institution, farm-to-restaurant, farmers' markets/farm stands, grant making
• Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration, drift/runoff buffers, hedgerows, soil stabilization, sheet mulching
• Pest Management: eradication, mulches - general, mulches - living, mulching - vegetative
• Production Systems: permaculture
• Soil Management: composting, green manures, organic matter
• Sustainable Communities: community development, partnerships, urban agriculture

Project was continued through December 31, 2019, and a no cost extension will be requested for one more year. During this year 2017-2018 funds were used up and activities completed, so this is the final report for these funds.  A significant added focus, and use of both 2017 and 2018 funds, during 2019 were the preparations for and hosting of the 2019 WSARE PDP Coordinators meeting, additionally helped prepared the affiliated Western Pacific Land Grants for WSARE teams' visits following the Coordinators meeting.

a) Topic(s) – In response to client requests, we explored the use of “You Tube” (in workshops) and social media (encouraged participants to share their experiences with the home assignments through Facebook & WhatsApp) and online conferencing (Zoom) for educational delivery/support and curriculum development. This period’s topics included but were not limited to: soil and water conservation practices, farm
planning and development, record keeping, enterprise budgeting, permaculture, agroforestry, home, school, and community gardening, food security, and promotion of government programs.  During 2019 we hosted the WSARE PDP Coordinators annual meeting on Guam and facilitated COM island Land Grant Institutes' preparations for site visits following coordinators' meeting.  This was a central focus in all of our planned activities from January to June of 2019.  Many of our advisory groups meetings were to prepare our partners for this visit.
b) Context, justification and assumptions – The Guam Sustainable Agriculture Professional Development Program (PDP) is a part of the New and Veteran Farmer Program under the NIFA Guam Food Security and Global Hunger POW. The PDP program coordinates collaboration among agricultural support agencies/NGOs in the delivery of educational programs by providing support in collaborative curriculum development, demonstrations, and workshop delivery. In recent evaluations, a recurring theme in educational delivery was the desire for web, video, and social media formats for information delivery. Subject matter and core issue topics were identified in past sub regional conferences, then further refined by annual needs assessments though advisory groups' meetings. The program facilitates multi-agency project planning to outreach professionals in their efforts to address the identified local and regional needs.
c) Stakeholder and partner involvement - Over the year’s on Guam, the client base of agriculture professionals and paraprofessionals has grown. In this period we started to reform the advisory group keeping representatives of core partners (NRCS, FSA, DoAg, CE&O, AES, and
local ag consultants.)  In 2019 we held planning meetings with advisory subgroups to prepare for the WSARE visit, and conducted focus groups with our island agricultural professional partners to identify topics for WSARE Professional Producer grants.  We still plan focus groups of agricultural production sectors like; livestock, commercial vegetable, commercial fruit, market gardeners, aquaculture, and paraprofessional agriculture groups. In 2019 we participated in a focus group of commercial fruit and vegetable producers and market gardeners.  We plan to invite the core partners and representatives from these industry sectors to identify future program topics and update members on current program progress. These advisory members are active partners in the education and outreach efforts of Guam’s PDP efforts.
d) Inputs – The Guam WSARE PDP has three focus areas for professional training and program development. Inputs for each focus area follow:

1) Adapting New Farmer Curriculum with a focus on online zoom conferencing/workshop across the Western Pacific, use of educational videos and social media for use by Outreach/Education Professionals that do not have agricultural backgrounds and delivery to nontraditional clients, by training professionals in use of this curriculum for use in home and subsistence gardener contexts. The program will attempt to integrate earlier developed curriculum with existing and new online videos like (Youtube) in workshops and utilize social media (Facebook) in client group network building. Inputs include; local Smith Lever funds, PDP funds, UOG CE&O new Community Healthy Living program staff and expertise from UOG: CES & AES & SBDC, NRCS and DoAG staff, and other agriculture, food, and health professionals. WSARE PDP will facilitate gardener need assessment, program planning, and coordination of curriculum development and role modeling.

2) Agricultural Professional Support for capacity building for technical support of agricultural producers including, subsistence producers and home market gardeners. In the past WSARE PDP effort focused on developing New Farmer curriculum for commercial producers and supporting agricultural professionals in workshop delivery. WSARE PDP funds will be leveraged with local Extension to support agriculture professionals’ trainings of island commercial and subsistence farmers.  Other inputs include: staff support from UOG CES & AES, DoAG, GCC culinary program, and NRCS as they also assist each other in training delivery. The WSARE PDP program will support curriculum development, training in its use, maintaining demonstration sites, and assisting Narrative Guam State/Protectorate WSARE Implementation Proposal 2017/18 partner groups in delivering trainings to their client groups. The PDP program will also conduct strategic planning sessions with farmer, agricultural professionals, and community groups to identify new topics.

3) Delivering New and Veteran Farmer Trainings by developing curriculum and demonstrations for trainings for clients that want to begin agricultural production. Our multi agency outreach group has identified three types of producers; subsistence/producers (those striving to reduce the family food bill and increase food diversity by gardening), market gardeners (gardeners who produce a surplus for sale as a first step to larger commercial production), and commercial producers (those who derive a significant portion of their income from agricultural production). For inputs, local support is available from Northern and Southern Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), Farmers’ Co-Op, Guam DoAG, MCA, UOG Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and GCC culinary program. This core group regularly works in smaller partnerships to obtain outside funding for targeted efforts.

e) Outputs -

1) Adapting New Farmer Curriculum with a focus on educational videos and social media for use by Outreach/Education Professionals that do not have agricultural backgrounds and delivery to nontraditional clients, (a) target audience includes community leaders, local health professionals, veteran support, teachers and outreach professionals concerned with developing gardening programs and community clients. (b) Activities and
methods include curriculum trainings, client workshop series and set up of new demonstrations where PDP team models recommended practices. (c) Products beyond fact sheets and Power Point presentations will involve posting on web and identifying useful YouTube videos and referencing useful WSARE, ATTRA and eXtension resources to support our curriculum.
2) Agricultural Professional Support, (a) target audience is island ag. professionals. (b)Activities include the development of a new curriculum materials to add to the existing New Farmer Narrative Guam State/Protectorate WSARE Implementation Proposal 2017/18 series.  (c)Products are workshop materials, extension fact sheets, field demonstrations, and use of new media.
3) Delivering New and Veteran Farmer Trainings, (a) target audience includes commercial producers, market gardeners, and subsistence/gardener producers. (b) Outputs include New and Veteran Farmer trainings, events and media. (c) Products will include curriculum in new formats and on the web and social media pages, and new grants.

Outcomes –

1)New advisory group formed and provided input from industry focus groups, many of the members were able to interact with WSARE Coordinators and staff through workshops, tour, and farmergrill night during the week of the PDP Coordinators meeting.
2) Island Outreach professionals will utilized the adapted curriculum for new and veteran producers in workshops and maintain demonstrations on recommended practices.
3) Harder to document but expect new gardens initiated, and increased production and consumption of fruits and vegetables by island families, adoption of sustainable practices taught by these producers.
4) Agriculture and non-agriculture professionals conducting workshops promoting home, school and community gardening efforts utilizing recommended practices. Increase in home, school, and community gardens.  The 2019 WSARE staff grant writing workshop got University faculty, agents, and specialist to attend that never attend the annual workshops put on by the Guam PDP Coordinators. At least 4 grants were submitted by attendees of this workshop.