Hon. Fidel Grant, Minister for the Blue and Green Economy Agriculture and National Food Security, accompanied by a contingent from his Ministry and officers of the East Agricultural Region visited the various projects being undertaken within that region.
The East Agricultural Region serves farmers from Pond Casse through to Petit Soufriere, and a number of projects are being undertaken simultaneously to increase the output of those involved in the agricultural sector and processors who depend on the production within that sector.
The tour began with a site visit to the Formie Feeder Road located in Castle Bruce. This feeder road to include a bridge, is to be rehabilitated under the Ministry’s Feeder Road Rehabilitation Project, with funding from the European Union’s National Authorizing Office (NAO). The project will rehabilitate one road per agricultural region to facilitate farmers’ commute to and from their holdings, with the expected outcome to be an improved and increased productivity base in the general area that the feeder roads serve.
Minister Grant, an advocate of accurate data collection and also the use of technology within the agricultural sector, also observed the Farmer Registration Exercise on the farm of Mr. Benedict Austrie, to better understand the challenges being faced by field officers and how improvements can be made to the process to facilitate both the officers and the farmers. Presently the Ministry has a set a target to register 100% of all farmers and fishers on island.
The tour concluded with visits to two (2) agro-processing facilities which are now being rehabilitated as part of Government’s Public Sector Investment Programme – Modernization of Traditional Crops Project: the Dipax Cassava Processing Facility owned and operated by Ms. Jeanette Graham and the Easy Side Cassava & Farine Facility in the Kalinago Territory. This enabled the team the opportunity to assess the quantum of wok completed and to accelerate finalization and operationalization of these processing facilities.
