Application of GIS in Finchhafen

 By Moses Robby

“THE biggest mistake you can make is continually fearing you will make one.” 

This is a motivational quote from an unknown person but it reminds us that sitting down and planning to achieve may bring nothing if we are not committed to making it happen. 

Without fearing the odds and making a rational decision to support and empower the lives of the people, Finchhafen MP, and Speaker, Theo Zuerenoc, have made it happen. Partnering with the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) and the district administration, the introduction of GIS application to establish a base line data for development has paved way. 

This comes with the aim of improving sustainable agricultural development for smallholder farmers in the districts. 

A baseline study was carried out to obtain information on all aspects of the socio-economic, agricultural farming practices and infrastructures in the Finschhafen district through the support grants from Zurenuoc.

The study and research to the district was sustained through the support of the Dac Kata Viso, LLG president for Hube Rural local level government, district electoral office staff, district administration staff and NARI scientists.

Application of GIS in the Finschhafen participatory appraisal came in two parts. The first part was about collection of MASP data from a localised setting and second part included a GIS training workshop for district officers. 

The collection of MASP data is practical based on the interview sheets conducted in each of the LLGs. 

The interviews were done on farmer to farmer basis by collecting data on the types of farming systems employed either through traditional farming methods or adopting new technologies. 

The research also covered the type of food crops that are common in the area and what fallow system is being used. 

All these data were captured into the GIS system for analysis to map out the similarities and differences in the farmers agricultural activities. 

These data reflects what the current situation is on the ground in terms of agricultural practices employed by the locals in the Finschhafen district. 

These data can be used for further planning to draw out changes on the land use etc that has been occurring since Bourke et al. 1998, gathered their data on the agriculture systems around the country.

Indications are that the agriculture database in the country needs to be reviewed. 

This is useful for planning but more so for NARI to update its current MASP database, a substantial amount of work needs to be done to update the information not only for NARI to do but collaboration on a national scale.  

This information gathering process will aid form the basis of the recent kind of agricultural practices and methods being employed by the villages across the entire country. 

This GIS technology has provided a much better results from the field surveys conducted with GPS and its applications in capturing data displaying exact position of the area. 

GPS was used to collect positional data to identify features on the map reflecting to the changes on the agriculture systems.

GIS application in NARI’s context is an important tool that supports NARI’s AR4D programmes largely due to the technology’s capacity to pinpoint exactly where agricultural technologies can be best introduced.  

The second part of the Finschhafen project was the capacity building in GIS tools for the district officers.

The capacity building workshop in the district aimed at equipping the district officers with some skills and knowledge in GIS. 

A workshop training was conducted for the district officers from education, health, agriculture and electoral office who have collectively appreciated how GIS plays an essential role to help people collect, analyse and relate spatial data and display data in different formats. 

“It is one of the tool which is missing in the development of all the districts around the country,” Ricky Posa, Finschhafen district health administrator, said. 

The workshop and training conducted has opened up opportunities for the district officers to acquire the know-how of the GIS application and what it can do to improve better planning and decision making process. 

The workshop has received high praises from the district administration staff from health, education and the electoral office of Finschaffen MP. 

This signifies how important GIS application is and what it can deliver in the processes of planning and decision making in the district.