For the agro-processing sub-sector in Dominica to fully thrive, it is critical that all stakeholders are on the same page and are aware of all that is occurring in the industry.

To this end, the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD), hosted the first of a series of meetings aimed at bringing together all the major players in the sub-sector to determine the way forward in a collaborative manner.

Agro-processing has been a constant fixture on Dominica’s agriculture landscape; however, it has primarily been a cottage-based industry, barring the exceptions of enterprises such as Bello and Dominica Coconut Products, whose brands have become internationally known.

Discussions centred around the wide cross-section of initiatives currently being undertaken to enhance the sub-sector which include: The Modernization of Traditional Crops Project being implemented by the Ministry of Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security, which targets existing agro-processors involved in cassava and toloma production; as well as the DEXIA led proposal to increase Dominica’s participation in the root crop value chain via agro-processing plus the proposed multipurpose Agro-Processing Technology Centres (APTEC).

Dr. Ian Lambert, Food Scientist and Technical Advisor to the Dominica Export Import Agency (DEXIA) and the National Centre for Testing and Excellence (NCTE), expressed his appreciation for the timely nature of the consultation noting that the list of ongoing agro-processing projects lacked cohesion. He also stressed the need for a clear direction for the collective thrust within the agro-processing sub sector and the vertical linkages that exist between farmers, producers, and markets.

Additionally, Samuel Carrette, CREAD’s Consultant highlighted that the ongoing projects each have different targets and approaches towards the development of the sub-sector. He noted that DEXIA’s proposed facility focuses on a national development strategy, whereas the ongoing Ministry of Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security project aims to refurbish already existing processing plants, which are shared facilities focused on the processing of solely traditional crops, cassava and toloma and finally, the Agro-Processing Technology Centres (APTEC)
would be designed as multipurpose shared facilities at the regional level.

The Ministry’s Ryan Anselm and Miranda Stephenson, Technical Officer, Projects and Services and Project Coordinator of The Modernization of Traditional Crops Project, both highlighted the importance of agro-processing to the communities of the southeast, east, and northeast agricultural regions, where seven facilities are being renovated or built. They explained that production of cassava and toloma have long been grown in these communities given their ability to flourish in the marginal soils and more importantly, the livelihoods of these communities revolve around the growing and processing of these crops. They additionally indicated that composite bread trials have already been
held with three bakeries utilizing cassava marsh, showcasing the potential for the product and the
importance and need for these processing facilities.

It was further determined by the meeting’s participants that given the vast amount of work being undertaken in this sub-sector, a clear roadmap to prevent duplicity of projects in locations around the island needs to be developed.
Additionally, agreements on food safety and Good Management Practices (GMP) must be accepted and adopted in the agro-processing industry. It was proposed that follow up meetings with other relevant government and nongovernmental agencies as well as agro-processors and manufacturers should be planned to drive the process further.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry, DEXIA, Dominica Bureau of Standards (DBOS), AID Bank and NCTE.