Micronesia
SARE Professional Development Program Annual Report for Micronesia
January 1 - December 31, 2010
SARE Coordinator:
Jackson Phillip
College of Micronesia
P.O. Box 159
Kolonia Pohnpei FM 96941
691-320-6468
send email | Bio
Context and Overview
The state implementation program continued to provide staff development opportunities to the Extension staff in Micronesia - Palau, FSM and the Marshall Islands. Training and staff development activities are essential to upgrade awareness, knowledge and skills of the Extension staff in the area of sustainable agriculture production and utilization. Staff in all six different groups of islands making up the three island nations in Micronesia benefitted. Most of the Agriculture Extension Agents have less than a college education and, with a few exceptions, those who attended or completed college earned only Associate’s, Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees. Many of the Extension Agents gained their knowledge through many years of working experience. It is critical to be prepared to take over from the outgoing staff by promoting education; however, it is also very important to increase knowledge and skills of the present workforce through continued staff development and training programs. For many years, Micronesia has been benefiting from the SARE State Implementation Program, and we are very thankful. Now, with the negative impact of climate change and sea-level rise, it is more important than ever to have this and similar training programs for the workforce in Micronesia.
Activities and Methods
During the reporting period, January to December 2010, three Agriculture program staff, including one Extension Agent from Palau Community College (PCC), one from the College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) and one from the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI), along with the SARE PDP coordinator were fortunate to participate in the first-ever Organic Inspectors Certification Training held at the University of Guam (UOG). Two of the four participants were newly hired; one for the COM-FSM Cooperative Research and Extension (CRE), Chuuk Campus, and the other for the CMI CRE in the Marshall Islands.
The participation of the Micronesia Extension program staff served as exposure to the organic movement which, for practical purposes, is the original farming method prior to new technologies with chemical inputs, such as commercial fertilizers, being introduced into the islands. Although there was little expectation for the Micronesia participants to be certified to become organic inspectors, it was a great experience for all the participants. All Micronesia participants submitted a pre-course assignment, participated in all training activities including a hands-on inspection of a farm applying to be certified, completed homework and participated in the final examination. There was no report indicating that any of them passed the exam. Dr. Bob Barber, who organized the certification training, indicated he expected only a couple to pass the exam. A number of professional staff including one researcher and about half a dozen with Master’s degrees attended the training.
Changes in Ag Professionals’ Knowledge, Skills and Action
All participants from Micronesia at the Organic Certification Training increased their knowledge and skills in the area of organic production. Although there was no expectation to have the Micronesia participants certified as organic inspectors, not only because of the level of the training, but also because there is no real need for any operation to be organically certified, the experience was very educational. The experience with organic inspection and reporting recommendations provided a very important learning experience.
Feedback from Farmers and Ranchers
Some of the participants indicated in their trip report that they learned new knowledge and skills which will be useful in the extension activities in the area of sustainable agriculture. All were experiencing their first exposure to organic certification training and related information. Information on the subjects addressed, i.e. border plants, windbreak and contamination, will help as they assist farmers in making decisions on field layout and farm design
Recommendations
Extension agents in Micronesia should all be exposed to organic certification at appropriate levels of learning. A component of the completed training and actually a sort of prerequisite was supposed to be an online distance education course conducted out of UOG. The SARE Coordinator will make sure extension agents in Micronesia participate.
