IICA’s 2022 Accountability Seminar
On Thursday 21st September the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Delegation in Antigua and Barbuda held its annual accountability seminar at the Environment Division Conference Room. The Accountability Seminar allows IICA to present stakeholders with an update on its activities in support of agricultural and rural development in the country. It is a critical component of the international accountability culture to national authorities, stakeholder organizations, groups and individuals completed in 2022 in Antigua and Barbuda. It was also a celebration to highlight IICA’s 80th Anniversary in the region supporting agriculture and rural development.
This seminar was chaired by Ms. Sandra Joseph, Permanent Secretary – Ministry of Agriculture who thanked the institute for their support during the agricultural sector’s most challenging periods. Mr. Gregory Bailey, Director of Agriculture in his speech, congratulated the milestone and achievements that IICA accomplished. Additionally, he further expounded on the many collaborations on projects that were successfully executed over the years and wished IICA continued successes.
The executive remarks were made by Mr. Gregg Rawlins, IICA Eastern Caribbean States (ECS) Representative. Mr. Rawlins outlined three main functions of the event, these were (1) reporting on IICA’s achievements of 2022 (2) the forum was an opportunity for IICA’s partners and stakeholders to be aware of their futuristic plans, projects and programmes and (3) it also made allowance for feedbacks from those in attendance.
Mr. Craig Thomas, IICA National Specialist presented the 2022 Annual report. In his power point presentation, he illustrated IICA’s accomplishments which focused on three (3) pillars under the IICA 2018-2022 Medium Term Plan (MTP). In 2022 the Delegation focused on Climate Change, Agriculture Health and Food Safety and Territorial Development and Family Farming. He reiterated that IICA’s inclusion in synergies with partners such as the Ministry of Agriculture, CARDI, FAO, and other key Stakeholders made ALL achievements possible.
Several projects undertaken for 2022 were focused on water harvesting/conservation, strengthening costal and upland communities through the usage of the vetiver grass, queen bee rearing, and a number of capacity building sessions with females/youth within the agricultural sector. Mr. Thomas mentioned that for the future more would be done in the fishery sector which will be high on IICA’s agenda for 2023 and beyond.
Mr. Neil Gomes from ACARI and Mrs. Cheryl Samuels from ANBROP gave testimonials highlighting how their producer group have benefited from IICA’s interventions. Both producers expressed their sincere gratitude for the many opportunities that were afforded to their group and the continued support they’ve received over the years.
Various partners and beneficiaries were in attendance and were given the opportunity to express their gratitude and share how IICA’s initiatives have impacted their lives and livelihoods. One of the main concerns expressed was pertaining to agricultural data in terms of how better to access it from the producers, how efficiently the data is utilized by the Ministry and the availability to the public.