BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - MOVING agriculture in a new direction is the way forward for the sector, were the words emphasised to farmers by the Minister of Agriculture in St. Kitts and Nevis, the Hon. Alexis Jeffers.
The Minister, who is fairly new to the sector on St. Kitts, is the one who has over the last several years championed the successes of agriculture on the sister isle Nevis.
Farmers in Basseterre were told at the Annual Farmers Awards ceremony held recently that the whole idea of moving forward in the sector is for there to be a new sense of purpose for agriculture and the way it is carried out.
“I have this gut feeling that over the next five years we can transform agriculture. I have said to the persons in the Ministry and in the Department that we have to be able to build relationships with our farmers at all levels,” the Minister explained.
Farmers on both islands have faced a number of challenges, including climatic issues, competition with imported foods and the shortage of chemicals to deal with ticks and other insects.
Minister Jeffers acknowledged the important role that farmers play in the food supply.
“For them to produce, they need what is necessary - all of the infrastructure and all of the inputs necessary to make agriculture the success that it can be,” the Minister emphasised.
He chastised staff members of the Department of Agriculture, pointing out that they all acknowledge their faults and work to address their weaknesses in order to develop a new plan and structure that would lift the agriculture sector in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Strengths and weaknesses are some of the things that we can look towards to provide the guidance going forward,” the Minister added.
In a commitment to farmers, Jeffers stated that both the Ministry and the Department of Agriculture are to ensuring that those persons within the sector - livestock, fishers and crop - woulc receive what is needed to grow and drive the sector forward.
