HNVI & C-SAC WORKSHOP – Opening Ceremony
The High Nature Value Index (HNVI) and Climate Smart Agriculture Compliance (CSAC) Training of Trainers Programme Workshop was held on February 13th and 14th in Antigua at the Department of the Environment conference room.
On the morning of the workshop, the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) group made a courtesy call and had a technical meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture’s head office with Miss Sandra Joseph, Permanent Secretary and Mr. Brent Georges/MOA Projects Coordinator and Global Soil Partner (GSP) Focal Point of the Ministry of Agriculture. The PISLM representatives were Miss Simone Dias/ PISLM Project Assistant, Mr. Steve Maximay/Climate Smart Agriculture and Marketing Expert and Mr. Trevor Thompson/Project Manager CSIDS Soilcare Phase 1 (PISLM).
The Opening Ceremony was chaired by Mrs. Maud-Vere Bradford, Senior Researcher officer – Ministry of Agriculture (MOA). In the opening remarks, Mrs. Bradford welcomed the PISLM team and thanked them and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) for collaborating with the ministry on this project. In her closing remarks, she assured them that Antigua and Barbuda were ready for the next level of the project.
Attending this training were stakeholders (IICA, CARDI and UNCCD), Barbuda Council, farmers, Ministry of Agriculture employees which included extension officers, regulatory officers and backyard garden facilitators from the Agricultural Extension Division, along with staff from the Analytical Services department, Plant Protection Unit, Crop Research Unit, Forestry Unit, Veterinary and Livestock Division, Agricultural Stations, Statistic/Research & Information department and the Communication Unit.
During the opening ceremony, Mr. Thompson in his presentation on “CSIDS SOILCARE PHASE 1 Project Overview and Executing Agency Support for the Implementation and Status Update for Antigua and Barbuda” disclosed several stakeholders/partners and components of the project. He further added that the programme supports eight (8) Caribbean countries. These countries are Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Haiti, Grenada, Guyana and Jamaica.
The overview of the High Nature Value Index and Climate Smart Agriculture and Purpose of Training was done by Mr. Steve Maximay. He gave a synopsis on the origin and the originator of the HNVI and C-SAC. The work involved and the benefits were outlined as he reiterated that Climate Smart Agriculture is a holistic approach and not one to address one aspect of the sector. Additionally, he expressed his appreciation and support to the country, the project and the confidence he had in Petranilla Estreada-Joseph and Kenrick Francis, MOA – agricultural officers and the local HNVI-CSAC trainers for the two-day workshop. Both were trained in Guyana last year.
In support of his colleagues and the project Mr. Owolabi Elabanjo, Chief Extension Officer posed and answered a very relevant question about the exercise. “What is the importance of the initiative to Agriculture/Food Security in Antigua and Barbuda?” According to him, Healthy soils are the basis for healthy food production, soil helps to produce our food and lifesaving medicines. “This workshop/training is coming at a good time in Antigua and Barbuda for our Agro-businesses, Food security and better livelihood for our farming families, it will allow us to strengthen our policies in Agriculture, reforming our legal and institutional framework to achieve land degradation neutrality, to be climate resilience, it will enhance the technical support to soil-related activities”, Elabanjo said.
After all of the above, the HNVI & C-SAC WORKSHOP was declared open.
