The Hand-in-Hand Initiative - supporting digital transformation for smarter, more resilient agrifood systems in the Pacific  

17.09.2025
 

From 7 to 11 July 2025, the Hand-in-Hand Initiative (HIH) convened a regional geospatial training and capacity building Workshop in Fiji, marking an important milestone in advancing digital transformation across the Pacific. The training, organized by the FAO Pacific Subregional Office brought together representatives from Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, with participants drawn from ministries of agriculture and statistics. 

Building skills for data-driven decision-making

The Fiji workshop aimed to build technical capacity in the Pacific to apply HIH geospatial data and analysis tools for more effective policymaking and agrifood investment planning. 

Specific objectives included enhancing participants’ capacity to use the FAO Geospatial/Agro-informatics; presenting and refining territorial typologies by poverty, agricultural potential, and efficiency to guide targeted investments; and promoting the use of agricultural typology analysis in investment planning and decision-making. 

Another key priority was fostering regional collaboration and knowledge-sharing among Pacific countries, including for the development of data and mapping to engage climate financing for agrifood systems transformation.

Participants at the training workshop in Fiji

Tangible results

Over the five-day training, participants gained hands-on experience using a case study approach with key Geospatial methodologies, improved data access, analytics for use at country level. Among the results achieved the participants:

• Deepened their knowledge of Geospatial tools and data analysis that help measure and compare agricultural performance, improving how different types of farming areas are identified;
• Learned new ways to use mapping tools to weigh different factors and make better plans agrifood systems enhancements;
• Built practical skills in using the HIH Geospatial/Agro-informatics Platform user interface, enhancing usability and adaptability at the national level
• Introduction to FAO's catalogue and map servers, which allows them to publish and share different kinds of data, from tables to maps and satellite images.

Reflecting on the outcomes of the training, FAO Subregional Coordinator, Mr Guangzhou Qu, noted, “The Hand-in-Hand Initiative’s geospatial training has been instrumental in strengthening the capacity of governments from Pacific Member States. By equipping them with advanced geospatial skills and practical tools, this effort empowers countries to use data-driven insights for better planning, monitoring, and delivery of results across the agrifood systems agenda.”

Participants building practical skills during the training

Strengthening regional collaboration

The workshop also underscored the importance of regional cooperation. By training government officials from six Pacific Island countries together, FAO is helping to lay the foundation for sustained collaboration and shared approaches to evidence-based agrifood investments, including data and analysis for accessing climate financing.

As FAO continues to scale up the Hand-in-Hand Initiative in the Pacific, accurate, timely, and accessible data will remain central to guiding policies and investments that build resilient agrifood systems, reduce inequalities, and ensure better livelihoods across the region.