Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 06th, 2012 (SKNIS): Kudos is being showered on the Sandy Point Agricultural Co-operative Society (SPACS) as they celebrate two years of hard work and togetherness in Agriculture.
Utterances of pride and appreciation were the general sentiments expressed at a town hall meeting held as part of the 2nd anniversary celebration of SPACS recently. A number of stakeholders spoke in herald of the 2012 SPACS theme: “Better preparations, Better Results.”
The town hall meeting which was chaired by SPACS Secretary Ms. Dereca Thompson, heard from a number of persons who gave sound advice and encouragement to the young farmers.
Mr. Randolph Hamilton, Special Projects Manager for the Ministry of Tourism exclaimed that Agriculture has to be both a public and a private sector industry.
“Cruise lines are now targeting “green tourists” and bearing this in mind, farmers in St. Kitts can make use of an excellent opportunity to partner with these ships for the sustainability of tourist who want to eat this way” said Mr. Hamilton. “This type of tourist is looking for the next best thing to organic – which is sun ripened.”
Mr. Hamilton said St. Kitts and Nevis has, in the past, explored packaging locally grown vegetables with intent to supply Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines when they make ports of call in St. Kitts and Nevis. Hence, the customer service that the farmer provides is very important, especially when dealing with perishable goods.
Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris who was also in attendance, in echoing words of congratulations to SPACS, described the farmers as one of the “better organized groups”, and expressed much thanks to them for rekindling interest in agriculture in the town of Sandy Point.
In commending SPACS for their revitalization of the Sandy Point Public Market, Minister Harris said that their efforts have not gone unnoticed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
“Because we have confidence in you, I think, for two years in a row for our World Food Day commemorative week of activities, we have set aside a particular day, usually it’s a Saturday for an organized activity at the Sandy Point Market and that has been going very well,” said Minister Harris, “and again I want to commend them for the team effort, so that the group, small but robust, can put on a successful national event.”
According to Minister Harris, the Ministry of Agriculture is still interested in providing water on the farms of these farmers as they represent a new breed of young, dynamic, able entrepreneurs who can come together and make things work.
The Minister also said agriculture should be seen in the context of food security and nutrition in the promotion of self-reliance. He reiterated that families are encouraged to pursue farming as a family activity, as the Ministry wants to see agriculture move from seasonal production to year-round production.
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