AN EROSION MODEL AS A TOOL FOR FARMERS INVOLVEMENT FOR DEFINING LAND USE STRATEGIES IN FIJI AND SAMOA

Abstract South Pacific islands are under increasing pressure, and the threats are primarily from human interactions. The arrival of western values in the South Pacific resulted in forest depletion and intensive agricultural production systems, which have led to increasing damage to the environment, while bringing relatively few benefits to the resource owners. The pressure to which natural resources have been subjected by these development efforts, and the substantial and sometimes disastrous degradation and depletion which have occurred, has begun to focus the attention of communities on the need to implement sustainable management of those remaining resources. At present, crop production systems practiced in South Pacific Island States range from traditional to high input production systems. The majority of the farmers in Fiji and Samoa fall within these two extremes in what will be termed moderate input production systems. The physically based model LISEM is used to quantify the losses of soil and water in two small agricultural catchments in Samoa and Fiji. To be able to communicate directly with the farmers about the effects of proposed alternative land use on the spot calculation-results will be presented during village meetings. Calibration of the model showed that results for calculated discharge matches the measured values. In both catchments, demonstration areas of alternative land use strategies are implemented. Modeling tools will be used in the negotiation process with local stakeholders to come to feasible, reliable and acceptable alternative land management and land use strategies to increase people's welfare and reduce soil degradation and environmental pollution. Additional Keywords: soil erosion, conservation, modeling, participation Introduction The increasing population pressures and emerging trends of socio-economic marginalization or rural populations are putting a heavy strain on the delicate ecosystems of the Pacific Island Countries. In response to the rapidly increasing demands for food, Pacific farmers abandon traditional farming systems to adopt high input commercial production methods for short term gains, which are often unsustainable, in particular on sloping lands. The resulting erosion causes rapid depletion of soil fertility as well as pollution of ground-and open-water systems. The CROPPRO project aims to provide assistance to Pacific Island countries with the development of integrated farming approaches for sustainable crop production in environmentally constrained systems. The project specifically addresses the relation between agricultural activities and the surrounding environment, and focuses on the development of tailor-made farming approaches for major crop/soil units aiming at maximising agricultural production and minimising environmental deterioration. Special attention will be paid to knowledge transfer and participatory, culture-sensitive training for stakeholders and end-users. The project is funded by the EU, INO-DC and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries of The Netherland