by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN)—The long-standing partnership between the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Ministry of Agriculture of St. Kitts and Nevis is a core driver of regional food security.
Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Samal Duggins, has praised IICA as a vital pillar in advancing the Federation’s agricultural sector over recent years.
“I believe IICA undoubtedly is one of the foremost agricultural institutions in the hemisphere, and having such a strong institution leading in the dialogue, leading and guiding the technical development and advancement of Caribbean agriculture and having that done here on our shores could only be a well for us as a brand and a people and the Caribbean on a whole.”
He emphasised that their collaborative technical support directly mitigates severe climate realities, including extended periods of drought, disrupted planting seasons, extreme heat and soil degradation.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, St. Kitts and Nevis has had a long-standing and very strong relationship with IICA. I can speak specifically for the last three and a half years, where IICA has stood as a pillar in support of our advancement in agriculture and food security across a number of different initiatives and initiatives that I thought would have really done well to bring support to our farmers, fishers and the local community as a whole. And I am proud as the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries to have this relationship continue with IICA and the advancements that we are planning for the future. I believe it will do well not just for St. Kitts and Nevis but the region and indeed the global food security agenda. Over the past few years, St. Kitts and Nevis has experienced a number of issues as it relates to climate change and what is happening. Specifically, I can speak to the incidents of drought. We’ve seen more severe drought periods within the country. We’ve seen issues that we’ve never seen before where, for months, we had very little rainfall, and IICA stepped in to help in that regard. In that case, we have been working on projects to improve access to water and water security for our farmers.”
IICA provides crucial technical support for the Resilient Agriculture Project, which targets severe, climate-induced drought challenges.
The joint effort integrates climate-smart technology to elevate the Ministry’s flagship Greenhouse Village, the Sustainable Agriculture for Everyone (SAFE) initiative.
“We have considered a number of initiatives. One, climate-smart agriculture as advancing greenhouse and protected agriculture systems, but also to ensure that we tap into water sources and make that water more accessible to our local farmers, and IICA has been planning, preparing and investing in assisting us in that regard. And for farmers to be as productive as they can be, we need to ensure that they have an adequate supply of water. And in that regard, we have analysed our landscape. We have recognised that we do have water available in some cases and in most cases, but what we need in some instances is to ensure that that water is channelled to the farms that need it most. And in that regard, IICA has been working along with us in planning how to harvest, store, channel and distribute that water to the farms that need it the most.”
The Minister highlighted the industry’s shift to technology and more advanced techniques and the impact on youth and women in agriculture.
“In this era of agriculture, young people want to move away from the fields, and they want to apply technology to the advancement of food security. Today, we are completing our greenhouse village where we have just over 24 greenhouses erected and will be distributed to all people. That helps our young minds to see agriculture quite differently and again to optimise production. IICA has helped with training; they have helped in supporting these initiatives in so many different ways. We believe that this also lends well to women in agriculture. Rather than the laborious tasks that are seen as cultivating the fields, we can now bring them and harness technology and utilise the efficiency of greenhouse and protected agriculture. And we believe that will excite our young population to get more and more into farming and be a part of the food security agenda and conversation even more than the past.”
The institution acts as a source of essential guidance, sharing specialised expertise to guide Caribbean agricultural policy and technical development.
“IICA is a wealth of knowledge. They gather data from across the hemisphere and across the world, and being exposed to that data and information helps in planning, helps in development and helps to shape what the future could look like. And having accurate data and having it readily available and packaged is something I believe is invaluable. And we thank IICA for being there and bringing that data to us, conducting training sessions and developing our local farmers and fishers and being able to advance the conversation and advance the programmes and agenda as well with investment, with training, and with everything they bring to the table.”
The continuous collaboration works directly toward meeting broader CARICOM food production targets of reducing the regional food import bill and creating a more sustainable, food-secure Caribbean.
