Project Overview
Commodities
- Fruits: bananas, citrus, figs, papaya, soursop, breadfruit, pomegranate, jackfruit, mango, and coconut
- Vegetables: beans, cabbages, cucurbits, eggplant, greens (leafy), greens (lettuces), okra, onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, morongai (horseradish tree), chaya (tree spinach), malabar spinach, water spinach (kang kong)
- 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, focus group, 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 mulching
- Sustainable Communities: partnerships, public policy, urban agriculture
Abstract:
Final Year (1/2023 to 12/2023)
During this reporting period, addressing family and island-wide food insecurity remained a pressing concern after Guam was hit by Super Typhoon Mawar. Key activities during the latter half of this year was to focus on typhoon recovery, rebuilding demonstrations, planning for upcoming program workshops, and promoting the various WSARE grant programs. Guam PDP remained dedicated to collaborate with both existing and new members of our advisory committee. 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.
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.
COVID Context (1/2020 to 12/2020): 2020 started following the professional training plan laid out with New and Veteran Farmer farm plan development trainings for Chamorro Land Trust Commission (CLTC) Land Agents with a focus on their assisting their subsistence clients. The plan was to train these seven agents (12 contact hours) then pair with 2 farm families each to go through the 20 hour New and Veteran Farmer trainings, where they would mentor the families in developing and implementing a subsistence farm plan for their agriculture lease. COVID halted and refocused the WSARE PDP team's efforts. Commercial agricultural markets, with the shocks inflicted by the COVID, became the primary focus throughout the rest of the calendar year. One effort under the UOG CE&O Sustainable Agriculture program three faculty mentored, in many one-on-one and small group trainings, the Farmer's Cooperative Association of Guam (FCAG) in all stages of development in establishing and promoting the Curbside Farms' Mixed Produce Bags program. This was conducted in parallel with discussions with Government of Guam agencies that were providing meals and emergency food bags/boxes while buying imported produce for these efforts. The effort was to try to focus at least a portion of these produce purchases on buying local produce. Many meetings were held with different agencies, Department of Public Health and Social Services' Senior Program actively engaged with the effort others are interested.
Pre-COVID: In response to recent findings and events, Guam PDP will work with existing and new advisory committee members to identify and address issues impacting island food security. This period’s topics include but not limited to: subsistence and commercial production systems, soil and water conservation practices, farm planning and development, wholesale and retail market channel entry, permaculture, agroforestry, home, school, and community gardening, food security issues, promotion of government programs, and development and submission of WSARE grants. This project period will see Guam leading efforts to develop a communication networking (using Zoom) of sustainable agricultural professionals, across the American affiliated Western Pacific.
Project objectives:
Final 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 and workshop series schedule has been pushed back. Major 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 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.
Objective 1. COVID (1/2020 to 12/2020): We changed focus to address island food security in terms of the COVID impacts: first a massive surplus of imported produce (shut down of hospitality industry) eliminated many local markets. Then restarting markets and production once this surplus was depleted. 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.
Pre-COVID One project topical focus will be to address island food security through the promotion of micro-plot forest gardens to reduce spending on food and providing 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. Timeline for this objective will be ongoing throughout the program. Monthly trainings will be held with Guam Agricultural Professionals & WSARE Pacific Island liaisons to address this objective.
Objective 2. COVID (1/2020 to 12/2020): Increase grant submissions in collaboration with partners to address the massive influx of agricultural information needs by stakeholders. The PDP team, in collaboration with DOAG and SSWCD submitted two grants in peri-urban agroforestry: "Guam Urban Agroforestry Materials Collaboration Assistance Network" and "Guam Urban Agriculture/Aquaculture Methods and Innovative Production". The team also partnered with the FCAG, CLTC, DOAG, and COM to submit a WSARE Research to Grass Roots grant "Information Network for Sustainable Pacific Islands Research and Education".
Pre-COVID Plan: Increase WSARE grant submissions by 2020 double 2018’s submissions from Guam, CNMI, and COM. Through the WSARE Pacific Island liaisons network trainings will be conducted throughout the region to increase promotion of WSARE programs. The project will increase the participants’ awareness of the regional, economic, social, and environmental implications of adopting sustainable agriculture practices and systems. It will also have a direct economic impact on the islands’ WSARE education/outreach by increasing the amount of WSARE grants submitted from the region. During this period, grant proposals will have been prepared and reviewed for upcoming 2019 submission. Annual grant writing workshops will be held on Guam in Summer 2019.
Objective 3. COVID (1/2020 to 12/2020): COVID initially completely halted the Western Pacific Hospitality industry's business activity and meetings and then later in the year only slowly reopened primarily with restaurant curbside pickup. So this objective's activities were limited to advisory to Farmers' Cooperative Association of Guam (FCAG) in setting up Tuesday night Food Truck take out at Flea Market site's parking area in the last months of the Calendar year.
Pre-COVID Plan: Guam PDP will explore the potential of new collaborations between farmers and chefs on other islands to continue efforts and transfer knowledge of the Farmer-Chef program to the region. This objective will be ongoing throughout the program.