Discipline of Agriculture and Food Technology

The Agriculture and Food Technology (AFT) Discipline of the School of Agriculture, Geography, Environment, Ocean and Natural Sciences (SAGEONS) is situated at the Samoa Campus of the University of the South Pacific. Samoa Campus was originally the South Pacific Regional College of Tropical Agriculture (SPRCTA), established with New Zealand Assistance in the early 1960s under the Colombo Plan. In 1977, the Government of Samoa leased SPRCTA to The University of the South Pacific, which became its School of Agriculture (SOA), later School of Agriculture and Food Technology (SAFT). Following a restructure of the USP in 2021, SAFT became a discipline (AFT) under the SAGEONS. The AFT Discipline offers Undergraduate to Postgraduate programmes in two broad academic disciplines (Agribusiness and Agri. Sciences). The Bachelor in Agriculture (Bag) is a 3-year programme consisting of twenty-four courses (eight courses at each year level). Our programmes are externally reviewed on a 5-year interval to meet the changing needs of the Agriculture Sector in the region. The most recent review of the programme was done in 2020.

Mission

The Mission Statement of the Discipline of Agriculture and Food Technology Our mission is to assist in meeting the agricultural and related needs, and improving the welfare and livelihood of the communities of the South Pacific region by:

Providing agricultural education directly through teaching and research and indirectly through the training of teachers and advisers.
Developing and adapting sustainable new technologies to improve agricultural production and productivity that is sensitive to long-term food security and rural development and resource conservation.
Disseminating information throughout the region by face-to-face contact, as well as by extensive use of print and electronic media through collaboration

In line with its Mission Statement, the Agriculture and Food Technology Discipline has the following objectives:

1. Production of agricultural professionals that would complement and work synergistically with farmers and other stakeholders, to achieve national and regional food security goals.

AFT graduates should be capable of accomplishing the following:

Effectively engage in agricultural production, research, education and extension services for sustainable agricultural and rural development in the region and beyond.
Apply acquired knowledge and skills into practice by establishing and gainfully managing farms and other agro-allied enterprises, thereby becoming self-employing as well as creating employment for other people.
Pursue postgraduate studies in their chosen field of agriculture anywhere in the world, in order to be better equipped to serve the national, regional, as well as international agricultural needs.

2. Serving as an effective instrument for the implementation of the policies of the national and regional governments in agriculture and rural development, thereby contributing prominently towards overall national and regional development.

3. Localisation of training to ensure that trained personnel acquire the capacity for identifying, prioritising and addressing the agricultural needs of their countries and the region.