Smart Food Production Systems Featured in 2017 Yap Day

By: Dr. Murukesan Krishnapillai

Colonia, Yap (March 14, 2017) - Yap celebrated its 49^th Annual Yap Day from March 1-3, 2017. Yap Day is undoubtedly the most important celebration to acquaint everyone with the Yapese cultural milieu. The most prevalent form of celebration during the Yap Day Festival is dance. This is also an occasion to highlight education activities and local development programs.

As part of its ongoing research, outreach and extension education, Yap CRE showcased various climate smart food production systems and low-cost urban garden models to impart knowledge on the importance of nutritious vegetables. This was a booth about food and nutrition security, explicitly addressing climate resilient development through adaptation efforts at the community level that reduce vulnerability by securing nutrition under a changing climate. A variety of nutritious fruit and leafy vegetables from CRE demonstration gardens and program clients, including beneficiaries from USAID’s Pacific-American Climate Fund Climate Adaptive Agriculture and Resilience Project, were on display and sale.

This collective effort of CRE staff, agriculture interns, work-study students, and CAAR project beneficiaries received wide acclaim from visiting dignitaries including the President of the Federated States of Micronesia, U.S. Ambassador, Japanese Ambassador, delegation from the Republic of Palau, and other officials, who were delighted to see a rich display of vegetables. The booth on climate-smart food production systems was a novelty during this year’s Yap Day.