ST.JOHN'S Antigua, May 23rd, 2012 -- A delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment recently attended an Agriculture Conference, in Cuba which focused on the promotion of agriculture and greener cities.
Delegations from the Caribbean, Latin America and the USA attended the summit which included workshops, presentation of papers and training in Agriculture technologies.
“Our cities need to be greener, our towns… our villages need to be greener,” says Extension Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Owolabi Elabanjo, who was also a part of the delegation to Cuba.
Elabanjo says that through discipline, Cuba has attained its goal of being self-sufficient in food production and is now focused on exporting their farming technologies to other nations.
He further noted that the Antiguan delegation benefited from the information sharing, but adds that, “the technology Cuba is using… we are not far from it. We are very very close to what they are doing in Cuba.”
This he credits to the Antiguan farmers propensity to research, innovate and utilize resources on the internet.
Coming out of the meetings, Elabanjo feels confident that Antigua is number one in Caricom as it pertains to backyard gardening and the promotion of backyard farming.
The delegations from Latin America and the other Caribbean Islands were duly impressed by the standard and level of organized back yard gardening in Antigua and the extent to which government is the primary driver of this re-emerging cultural trend.
The gathering was also told that the Ministry of Agriculture, in Antigua actively promotes farming by various means inclusive of technical assistance, seed distribution and going out to churches, schools, NGO’s, community groups, TV and radio stations etc; in an attempt to spread the gospel of farming in general, and backyard farming in particular.
Invitations were extended to the Antiguan delegation to assist individual countries in the process of promotion and implementation of backyard gardening in their respective countries.
Antigua started the Seed Distribution Initiative in 2008. Two hundred and twenty thousand (220,000) seedlings were distributed in 2011 and the projection for 2012 is to distribute 250,000.
Elabanjo extends profound gratitude to Antiguans, for their support of the ‘backyard garden initiative’ and for buying into the Ministry’s vision by “recognizing that food is very important to our wellness and to our well being … [and] that we can create a better economy through food production.”
As a follow up to the Cuba conference, the Ministry will now focus on a new project. The focus will be to equip buildings in St John’s so that food production is possible. Elabanjo says that a presentation by the United States delegation revealed that the US is encouraging and promoting ‘balcony farming’ for those living in built up cities. This concept will be adapted to Antigua to help make St. John’s greener.
Elabanjo, has the support of Agriculture Minister, Hilson Baptist, on this initiative, who has indicated his intention to move the proposal forward to ensure, “that every building, every surrounding in St. John’s… [and] the environment is going to be used [to create] greenness and for food security.”
This initiative, he expects will provide jobs for the under and unemployed.
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