American Samoa Report
SARE Professional Development Program Annual Report
for American Samoa
January 1 - December 31, 2010
SARE Coordinator:
Don Vargo
American Samoa Community College
P.O. Box 5319
Pago Pago American Samoa 96779
011-684-699-1394
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Summary of 2011 PDP Activities and Results
Owing to a joint Land Grant/Sea Grant venture, attention during the past few years has shifted from traditional crop production/protection to aquaponics, aquaculture and hydroponics. Eliminating pig waste from streams still commands much attention, and as a consequence, composting pig waste with earthworms, i.e., vermicomposting, is again getting attention. Consequently, workshops in these areas held center stage during 2011 for both agricultural professionals and producers.
Context and Overview
Professional agriculturists in American Samoa comprise staff from our college’s Cooperative Extension Service (CES), Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and local Department of Agriculture. These agencies work closely with the local Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Park Service (NPS) and Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG). Given limited resources, cooperation among agencies makes the most efficient use of every agency’s ability to serve the public. As the only institution of higher education, our CES program plays a pivotal role in sustainable agriculture research and education.
Activities and Methods
- June 28 & 29 Aquaponics workshops
- July 1 Environmental education workshop
- July 13 Pig-waste management workshop
- October 5 Vermicomposting workshop
- October 12 Tilapia production workshop
Attendance at:
1) Aquaponics/aquaculture workshops in 2011: 206 people
2) Vermicomposting: about 140 people
Audiences have been mostly elementary and high school students, but there have been students from the culinary school, women’s gardening groups, community groups, some ag professionals and agency staff, a non-profit group assisting disabled adults to become more self reliant, ASCC students and other interested people that have stopped by on their own.
PDP-funded Publications/Educational Materials and Products
NA
Changes in Ag Professionals’ Knowledge, Skills and Action
Agriculture professionals benefited greatly from these workshops in a number of ways: they learned new material, they interacted with peers from other agencies, and they were introduced to producers interested in these topics. Because of their education, agriculture professionals were able to extend their knowledge beyond that learned at the workshops by referring to additional material, either printed or on-line. Of the two aquaponics workshops cited, 55 people attended and over 200 producers or potential producers were visited by CES, NRCS and USFS agents.
Unintended Outcomes
As stated above, these multi-agency-attended workshops strengthen ties between agency staffs by building trust and shared knowledge.
Involvement of others in state PDP planning and implementation
American Samoa has no SARE Advisory Committee. Instead, we rely upon topics brought to our attention by CES, NRCS and USFS agents, as well as our partners, especially the local EPA. The State Coordinator solicits training requests from agents and tries to identify expertise (usually from the University of Hawaii) to invite for a multi-day workshop.
Download four bit-map photo files of some of the workshops noted above were taken from an electronic version of our local newspaper, Samoa News.
