Web 2.0 training, Nadi, Fiji - 16th - 20 September, 2013

Bula vinaka!

I remember i once mentioned to friends who i  have been trying to persuade to get involved with blogging that "Time management is important to keep ones blog updated"!! Hence, my sincerest apologies for the late updates. 

I would like to share with you a very important training that i attended last year (2013) about Web 2.0 training in the Pacific. We learnt how to use Web 2.0 social media tools to share information on specific topics e.g. Exchanging/promoting/sharing of Agricultural information's through social media such as Facebook, twitter, blogs etc. 

There was a total of 23 participants from the Pacific Countries that attended the training. The participants were from Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, Palau, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Niue and Tuvalu. 

I was given an opportunity to present about my work and my experience on the use of social media which helps me promote and share my thoughts about Agriculture online.

You can find below my presentation and please do not hesitate to contact me for any queries yous might have. 

Web 2.0 Training and Exchange Workshop

Ms. Elenoa Salele

Land Resources Division

Secretariat of the Pacific Community

• Bula Vinaka. My name is Elenoa Salele. I graduated from USP, Alafua campus with a Bachelor in Agriculture. I have had the pleasure of learning and working alongside professional staff on and off the field. From field work to the technical side of Agriculture at SPC. 

2nd slide:

                    Is Agriculture a “DIRTY JOB”??

•  What are the views of why young people do not engage in Agriculture.

In one of the interviews for the Pacific Youth and Agri Strategy, some youths regarded Agriculture as a dirty job but personally I feel that Agriculture is our bread and butter. it provides food on the table, it’s a good source of money, food security and it develops our economy. I would say that they “DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE MISSING”!! 

2013 Web 2.0 participants

3rd slide: 

2012 web 2.0 participants

Web 2.0 participants - 2012

• ICT (Information Communication Technology) is a great way to attract the attention and get the message across to our youths on the importance of Agriculture. We try to promote agriculture in the form of social media as many youths are on FB (Facebook), Twitter and  G+ (Google+) etc.

4th slide:

• I have a Blog and a shared  Facebook account that promotes agriculture. Last year I created my own blog “Finding ME in the Agriculture World”
  I now have 23 stories on my blog. This has been a great exposure as I also get feedback from youths in ACP countries on my blog about some of the workshops, training's, conference, field work  I attended.   This blog is to basically explain everything that I ‘am involved in, work wise. The title says it all. I ‘am trying to find my spot on where I fit in. Where I ‘am headed and where I will end up in the Agriculture world.  What I write on my blog are mainly events which I partake in that I find very interesting.  For my blog “Finding ME in the Agriculture world” (basically to find myself as a youth in the agriculture sector) – The blog is about myself, you may be wondering why it is about me, I’m an agri. graduate and as a youth I feel that after graduating we find ourselves drifting from one point to another. We do not know which field we want to be involved in or some of us do not get into the field that we really want to be involved in and this blog is also to help other youths who feel the same to basically find our footings and adapting to it. At the same time i post up scholarship opportunities for agri., farming and some of the workshops that i attended etc. 

5th slide: 

• A particular social media success has been on my Blog, the piece about “Biogas Digester Effluent Trial” at Koronivia Research Station (KRS) and a comment also from a youth was later posted asking which effluent was used in particular. I was able to personally discuss my experience with the youth. It is a great feeling to know that youths are also reading your posts and sometimes we both learn from each other by information’s exchanged. This interest in biogas also feeds my interest in the piggery. 

6th slide:

• One of the facebook account which I administer is called ‘Youth and Agriculture – Sustainability & Modernization through ICT’ . This is a shared account with Riten Gosaic. This page is for the people, especially the youths of the Pacific who are involved in agriculture or are thinking of making it a profession. The major objective of this page is to eradicate the stereotype (preconceived negative attitude) that agriculture is for the rural populace and a layman's subject. This page also aims to encourage the youth in saying 'yes' to agriculture. Remember, we in the pacific survive through agriculture. It is the Pacific mainstay and we need to prioritize it. Everyone is invited to share their ideas on ACP agriculture & improvements!

7th slide:

"Practice what you preach"

Drenching done by youths

Youths in Samoa

• So! I would recommend that everyone should think of Agriculture as a field of study and source of investment.
  
  
   Thank you