In the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), communities in the inhabited atolls and islands of Yap State are often at risk of experiencing drought, as well as sudden-onset disasters including earthquakes, flooding, tsunamis, and typhoons.
With support from USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the College of Micronesia–FSM established the “Adaptive Community Transformation (ACT) on Yap” project to strengthen community resilience to natural disasters.
In addition to bolstering disaster risk management policy and water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure, the “ACT on Yap” program introduced a disaster-resilient agricultural technique developed locally by the College of Micronesia–FSM’s Cooperative Research and Extension (CRE).
CRS and CRE worked with 345 farmers in Yap to create and use coco pith, an organic potting soil made from shredded coconut husks, promoting a locally available and appropriate solution to encourage healthy crop growth.