Education
Alafua, More Than Just A Campus
It does more than just train agriculturalists
Howard and Koen had no clue where Alafua Campus was when they were told by their university lecturers in the Netherlands that that's where they will spend three months of their study. The Dutchmen, however, are not alone. While many in the Pacific know where the campus is, what exactly the campus does is unknown to many, apart from training its future agronomists.
 |
|
|
As one of the three campuses of the University of the South Pacific (USP), Alafua does more than train the region's agriculturalists. It not only offers programmes like diploma in tropical agriculture, bachelor of agriculture, post-graduate diploma in agriculture, master of agriculture and a doctorate in agriculture, Alafua also hosts USP's Institute of Research, Extension and Training in Agriculture (IRETA).
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Research is the main focus of IRETA, and it also organises technical training and workshops, as well as provide a question and answer service for agricultural officers in the Pacific. Tucked away in 82 hectares of the forested part of Apia, Alafua Campus, with its limited budget, also runs research programmes in the dreaded taro leaf blight which devastated Samoa's once thriving taro industry. Its scientists are also doing work on medicinal plant that includes kava, as well as researching model Pacific farm, which integrates fish, duck and crop farming.
An innovative programme just introduced in Alafua, and in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Agricultural Development in the American Pacific Project, is the paravet training project. The SPC is also involved in the breeding of new blight-resistant taro species and is funding a new tissue culture laboratory for the campus.
Paravets
One has heard of paramedics and paralegals, now Alafua Campus is training paraveterinarians. While these are not registered veterinarians, paravets when they complete their training will be responsible for providing animal health care and animal production where no veterinarian is available. And this is generally the case in many islands countries, with Alafua estimating that there are only 100 registered veterinarians in the entire Pacific, responsible to serve over 13 million animals in 22 countries.
That is a ratio of one vet to 130,000 animals! With the paravet training programme being piloted to 26 selected government agricultural officers in Samoa and neighbouring American Samoa this year, the vet to animal ratio should improve. Classes are done using USP's distance learning mode. For one week per semester, students are all brought into Alafua Campus to have face-to-face tutorials with their lecturer, Siosifa Fifita, a qualified vet with the SPC in Fiji.
Model Farm
Animal feed producers like Fiji's Goodman Fielder will not be particularly happy about Alafua Campus' work on improving protein nutrition. It uses local chicks which feed on locally available feed and live on sheds built from local materials. At the model farm managed by Samoan Uga Luaupu, ducks feed on local spinach (bele) and drink from the fish pond, in a small fenced compound. Grated coconut mixed with fishmeal taken from the local cannery are also provided.
The ducks are not only a good source of protein, but they also adapt well to the climate. The very active Women in Business group in Apia has expressed great interest in the model farm, believing it offers a good source of livelihood for its rural members.
Samoa Centre
Ably led by local scientist Ruby Va'a, the Samoa Centre does more than look after students of the university that are enrolled in the USP's extension, or distance learning programmes. This past semester, the centre was serving 200 students, most of them civil servants or working in local companies and institutions. The centre uses telecommunications technology like electronic mail and the internet extensively, including USPNet, the university's satellite communication system.
In recent years, the centre has been filling a niche in the local education system by providing what Va'a calls 'coaching clinics'. Last year, up to 500 secondary school students in Apia attended after-hours classes in English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Accounting, Economics and Geography. Teachers are recruited locally and students pay S$5 per one-hour session.
IRETA
It was Mohammed Umar, director of IRETA that provided the background of how the idea of paravet training was born. It began as a subject of conversation some 30,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean when he and an SPC executive were flying from the Marshall Islands to Hawaii. Paravet training is one of many programmes the institute is involved in.
Q&A is yet another innovative service IRETA has introduced for agricultural officers around the region. It handles any agriculture-related question from anyone‹a government officer, farmer, a student; and questions are received either via uspireta@samoa.usp.ac.fj, by telephone (685) 21882 or 22372, via facsimile number (685) 22347 or by writing to IRETA, USP, Private Mail Bag, Apia, Samoa.
