A new database by the Samoa Farmers Association is expected to transform agriculture for farmers and farmer organisations.
“We will be conducting a survey that will identify farmers current land, their preferred crops and area available, this information will be stored on the new database for farmer organisations to easily find farmers of each crop type and volume,” said Afamasaga Toleafoa, the President of the Samoa Farmers Association.
The survey will provide input for accurate and flexible data management in an electronic data collection tool featuring advanced multimedia and GPS functionality.
“We will be using the smart digital form tool for surveying purposes, it’s an ideal tool for surveying farmer profile as well as farmers’ land area and location.”
Afamasaga Toleafoa said the digital forms are able to capture and measure areas, take GPS coordinates and photographs from any smart and handheld device.
“The forms can be used through an app or on a web browser, once a form is submitted, the data is instantly uploaded and published onto the database.”
The survey is expected to be completed soon and is funded by the Farmers’ Organizations for Africa, Caribbean and Pacific – FO4ACP Programme, a joint partnership between the European Union, Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network (PIFON).
Photo source Pacific Farmers