BASSETERRE, St. Kitts –AN invitation is open to all farmers and private sector agriculture stakeholders to attend a special seminar this evening (Apr. 6) to learn of funding opportunities for crop production and marketing.
The initiative organized collaboratively by the St. Kitts Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd. and Caribbean Farmers’ Network (CAFAN) begins at 6:30 sharp at the Farmers Training Centre, La Guerite, Basseterre.
According to General-Secretary of the Farmers Cooperative Joseph O’Flaherty, the focus of the partnership with CAFAN is to empower individual farmers and get them more involved in the value added chain. The main objective of this evening’s meeting, he explained, is to discuss access to funding and special regional arrangements for marketing and export.
He noted that these issues are critical in ensuring farmers have more reliable sources of income that in turn will benefit the economies of the respective CAFAN member islands.
“We are the focal group to let local farmers know about the role of CAFAN and the opportunities that are available by associating with this organization. Because we have thousands of members in CAFAN, we are able to hold discussions with various international and region organizations, including donor agencies, and from time to time we are able to put forward proposals,” O’Flaherty told SKNVibes.
Tonight’s forum will be preceded by a stakeholders meeting slated for this afternoon at 2:00 at the Ocean Terrace Inn. This session will bring together representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Taiwanese Mission, Nevis Grower’s Association and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute to discuss preparation for agricultural export.
CAFAN Chief Coordinator Jethro Greene will be at the meeting to lead discussions with farmers and stakeholder groups. According to O’Flaherty, visits were made to various member and non-member farmers yesterday (Apr. 5) to carry out initial assessments of the farms on the island, and he reported that the CAFAN representative was “very impressed”.
O’Flaherty urged farmers to take advantage of the opportunity, as there are immense benefits to be tapped into through the increase of marketing and exports.
“The obvious benefits are that the individual farmers will have a ready market which will translate to a steady income and more money in their pockets. This will put them in a very good comfort level,” O’Flaherty noted.
According to the SK Farmers Cooperative representative, if the project goes well it will assist the nation in reducing over time its “staggering” food import bill.
