PART of the Buy Local initiative is to support local farmers by procuring more local produce instead of buying imported commodities. But the local farming community needs more support from both the public and private sectors in order to thrive.

According to 2012 data from the Bureau of Statistics and Plans-Business and Economic Statistics Program, the island has imported a whopping near-$400,000 worth of vegetables and fruits for April 2012 alone.

The figure represents cumulative data on different varieties of fruits and vegetables. Bill McDonald, president of the Guam Farmer's Cooperative Association, said data on specific vegetable imports are currently lacking on the island since the task of data-gathering was removed from the Guam Department of Agriculture.

“We are supposed to be able to catalogue what we import," McDonald said.

This function, McDonald added, is vital to the sustainability of local agriculture on the island since the information would help them analyze the market and come up with data on what specific fruits or vegetables to produce.

“The data mixes up everything. They are not reporting by product,” stated Dr. L. Robert Barber, farm management and marketing specialist at the University of Guam.

“It’s pretty safe to say that we import at least 90 percent of our produce. These include vegetables and fruits that can be produced locally,” Barber said.

Marketing is a big hurdle for local farmers on the island, McDonald stated. Part of the challenge is knowing where and who to sell the produce from the farm, he said.

“For many years, farmers have been hoping that a good harvest will come but when it does, they don’t know where to market it. Some of our farmers, they even give away their produce because there is no market for it. A couple of weeks ago, we had a farmer with a truck-load of cucumber. He had to put it back in the ground because it won’t sell,” McDonald said.

According to Barber, marketing becomes a real issue if the farmer does not get a price that covers all his costs. If the farmer fails to make a profit for his produce, he said, the farmer will not be able to continue to farm.

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“It is important to know that when you buy from a local farmer, every dollar stays on this island; and when you buy an imported product, 50 percent of the price you pay probably goes off-island,” Barber stressed.

Barber also emphasized the importance of consistently implementing the Buy Local policy and also encouraging government institutions such as the Guam Memorial Hospital and Guam Department of Education to consistently procure local produce.

He also emphasized the importance of strengthening the marketing capacity of local farmers and the development of a consistent market chain – from the farm, to the distributor, and to the consumer – to increase confidence. Strengthening partnership between local farmers and wholesalers is also vital.

Making sure local wholesalers understand the seasonality of local fruits and vegetables will also contribute to improving marketing consistency.

“All of these guys who buy off-island should understand that during specific months, you don’t have to import certain types of fruits or vegetables because you are going to get a lot locally. Instead, they should communicate with the local farmers and buy from them,” Barber added.

Barber also said it is necessary to reduce importation of vegetables and fruits to keep the dollars within the economy.

“We are talking tens of millions of dollars. If we could change even just 5 to 10 percent local produce to 20 to 40 local produce – that would translate into a lot. I think for some crops we can even go 100 percent. We should be able to grow 100 percent of tropical fruits and vegetables.”