Following a farm-stress survey of farmers and farm workers throughout Micronesia conducted in 2021 by the Western Region Agricultural Stress Assistance Program out of Washington State University, the UOG Farmer Focus program has been holding a conference on a different island in the region every year. The survey results guide the conference topics that would be best address the stressors and challenges specific to each island’s agricultural community.

“Farming here is very different. It’s not like Guam, where you have commercial farms,” said Steven Young-Uhk, vice president of COM-FSM. “We don’t have commercial farms here — we consider ourselves all farmers.”

He said the farming challenges in Chuuk are vast — with some of the attendees specifically mentioning crabs, rats, snails, high tides, heavy winds, and heavy rain — but land and space is a predominant factor that limits production.

“We don’t have big lands, so land is a major challenge in doing higher scale production, so it’s mostly agroforestry — planting a few taro, a few yams, a few cassava in an agroforestry system,” Young-Uhk said.

The Chuuk conference featured nearly 20 presentations with topics covering aquaculture challenges and solutions, taro and sweet potato intercropping, agricultural marketing, using seagrass to enhance soil nutrition, agritourism recovery following typhoons, nutrition in local produce, farmer well-being, and services available to farmers through their local Land Grant extension service.

“What I liked the most is the sharing of information by the off-island presenters,” said Chuuk resident and farmer Killy Fritz, as translated through an interpreter. “They really encouraged me to continue farming.”

Each session was led by a practitioner or an expert from the University of Guam, the College of Micronesia-FSM, Northern Marianas College, and Washington State University — all Land Grant institutions whose mission is to bring practical, informal education to the public to improve the quality of life.

A second day of the conference offered a Mental Health First Aid Training for Chuuk’s professionals who work with growers in the islands. The training certified 12 individuals from organizations including the Chuuk Behavior Health Center, the Chuuk Women’s Council, and Chuuk High School.

“Mental well-being is closely connected to physical health, decision making, productivity, and quality of life,” said Tim de La Cruz, an extension agent specializing in family resiliency and co-director of UOG Farmer Focus. “Supporting farmers' mental health, which is really what we sought to achieve at this conference, helps strengthen not only the farmers but also their families, farms, and our communities.”

Delivering on the event’s theme of “Matawach, Fonuwach, ina Manawach” (Our Ocean, Our Land, Our Lives), the conference also provided an opportunity for the agricultural community to connect with one another.

“I see this conference as bringing our communities and farmers together,” Young-Uhk said. “[…] It’s the farmers that we need […]. We need to bring them to the table. We need to get their input. They know the challenges on their farm, so if we engage with them, bring them closer, we will be able to identify and will be able to direct support for them and their farms.”

Being able to bring the Farmer Focus Conference to various islands in Micronesia has underscored the impact and importance of regional collaboration, said Kuan-Ju Chen, an agricultural economist at UOG and director of UOG Land Grant’s Farmer Focus program.

“By sharing knowledge, research, and lived experiences, we can strengthen support networks for farmers and build more resilient, sustainable, and food-secure communities throughout Micronesia,” he said.

The UOG Farmer Focus program has plans to continue its annual conferences, with the next one planned for another island in Micronesia during the summer of 2027.

Jason Reiong, director of the College of Micronesia-FSM Cooperative Research & Extension Program, said having this event in Chuuk was an incredible opportunity to support and uplift Chuuk’s farmers while also preserving the traditional knowledge that has sustained their islands.

“The conversations, lessons, and ideas shared throughout the day reminded us that our greatest resource is our community,” he said.

The Farmer Focus Program under University of Guam Land Grant is a sub-grantee of the USDA-funded Western Region Agricultural Stress Assistance Program (WRASAP) at Washington State University. The conference in Chuuk was also supported by the College of Micronesia-FSM, the Onei Municipality Mayor’s Office, the Chuuk Visitors Bureau, the Chuuk Department of Agriculture, the Chuuk Women’s Council, Chuuk High School, the Chuuk Community Health Center, Chuuk V6AK Radio Station, the Catholic Relief Service, and individual farmers.

More Photos