UOG awarded $350K to help market locally-grown food
UOG awarded $350K to help market locally-grown food
UOG awarded $350K to help market locally-grown food
4/27/2023
From left to right: Dr. Tongzhe Li, associate professor in the Department of Food,
Agricultural, and Resource Economics at the University of Guelph, Canada; Dr. Fred
R. Schumann, professor of global resources management at the UOG School of Business
and Public Administration; Dr. Kuan-Ju Chen, assistant professor of agricultural economics
with the UOG Cooperative Extension & Outreach service under CNAS; Dr. L. Jen Shaffer,
associate professor of ecological and environmental anthropology at the University
of Maryland, College Park
The College of Natural and Applied Sciences at the University of Guam has been awarded a $350,000 grant to help improve the marketability and profitability of locally grown food and to increase farmer involvement in sustainable growing practices. The funding is from Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, a competitive regional grant program supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for projects that advance agricultural innovation and sustainability.
Dr. Kuan-Ju Chen, assistant professor of agricultural economics with the UOG Cooperative Extension & Outreach service under CNAS, will lead the project, titled “Guam’s Upgrowing Agricultural Markets (GUAM): Developing Profitable Local Food Markets and Sustainable Agriculture for Small Island Economies.” It will involve consumer surveys regarding their preferences and willingness to pay for local produce as well as farmer surveys regarding their preferences in producing local and sustainable food.
The co-investigators on the project are Dr. Fred R. Schumann, professor of global resources management at the UOG School of Business and Public Administration; Dr. L. Jen Shaffer, associate professor of ecological and environmental anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park; and Dr. Tongzhe Li, associate professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics at the University of Guelph, Canada.
The research team will use the results to help farmers develop effective branding, marketing, and selling strategies to local consumers and tourists and to improve the transparency of commodity standards between producer and consumer. The project will also inform educational workshops and materials promoting increased producer participation to be offered through UOG’s Cooperative Extension & Outreach service.
“We are excited to receive this grant and identify ways to strengthen the value of the local food chains,” Chen said. “We believe that our project will have a significant impact on the agriculture industry in Guam, and we look forward to sharing our findings with producers and agricultural professionals.”
The project begins on June 1 and is funded through May 31, 2026.
For more information on the project, contact Dr. Kuan-Ju Chen at chenkj@triton.uog.edu.