~~Adz:Left~~Basseterre, St. Kitts (October 31, 2006): The students of the Dean Glasford Primary School were presented gardening tools on Monday, October 30 as part of the local World Food Day activities.
This was revealed by Chairperson of the World Food Day Committee Mr. Paul Benjamin who noted that this goes along with this year's theme which is "Investing in Agriculture for Food Security." He explained that the process of investing is to devote different kinds of resources into something and in this case it is agriculture. As such financial and human resources should go into agriculture. Mr. Benjamin described food security as the condition in which all people have high quality food at all times leading to a healthy lifestyle.
The World Food Day Committee Chairperson said that the department chose to give the young people the tools in order for them to appreciate the importance of agriculture so that they can make it part of their life goal.
Mr. Benjamin provided more details on the aspect of investing in agriculture. He said it is important for the Department of Agriculture to sensitize the general public about doing its share of investing.
~~Adz:Right~~He noted that there are three main players the government, private enterprise and farmers. Mr. Benjamin said that the government's role is key in that most often it provides the land as well as the infrastructure including water and roads. Private enterprise, particularly financial institutions could play a part by giving loans and credit, while farmers provide the labour required to run the farm.
Other activities associated with World Food Day included: Talks to Secondary School Students, a Food Symposium and a Food Fair held in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, a ZIZ Prime Talk pertaining to World Food Day, a press release as well as Agriculture in Context and Agriscope programmes focusing on the theme.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has contributed to food security by means of a tele-food security project. The former sugar workers are part of this undertaking which involves the planting of peanuts. This is being done in different areas around the island including Belmont and Lodge Estates. Via FAO assistance the farmers were given prepared land, provided with planting material and technical advice.
Mr. Benjamin noted that this is just the first phase since the farmers would be assisted in planting other crops in the future.
