{"id":11386,"date":"2024-10-17T16:45:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T16:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/?p=11386"},"modified":"2024-10-17T16:46:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T16:46:19","slug":"world-food-day-seminar-inspiring-antiguas-youth-in-agriculture-by-shenequa-williams-and-carol-faye-bynoe-george","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/2024\/10\/17\/world-food-day-seminar-inspiring-antiguas-youth-in-agriculture-by-shenequa-williams-and-carol-faye-bynoe-george\/","title":{"rendered":"World Food Day Seminar: Inspiring Antigua’s Youth in Agriculture by Shenequa Williams and Carol-Faye Bynoe-George"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Food Day celebrations in Antigua were highlighted by the Youth in Agriculture Seminar, hosted at the Agricultural Extension Division on October 14th, with a focus on engaging young people in the critical mission of food security and agricultural innovation. The event drew notable figures from Antigua\u2019s agricultural sector and government, including Minister Anthony Smith\/Minister of Agriculture<\/strong>, Lands, Fisheries<\/strong>, and the Blue Economy, Anthony Smith Jr., Mr. Walter Christopher\/Permanent Secretary, Mr. Gregory Bailey\/Director of Agriculture, Owolabi Elabanjo\/Chief Extension Officer, and Ika Fergus\/the Extension Officer and FAO Correspondent.<\/p>\n

Mr. Ika Fergus opened the ceremony by expressing gratitude to the head table for their attendance and support. He pointed out that young people account for 16% of the world\u2019s population and stressed the importance of their role in shaping the future of food and nutrition security in Antigua and Barbuda. Fergus shared his hope that the youth participants would leave the seminar with renewed passion, confidence, and commitment to agriculture.<\/p>\n

Mr. Walter Christopher\u2019s remarks focus on more inclusion of committed youth with a foresight and the drive to lead the industry much further than they predecessors.\u00a0 Additionally, he made reference to his commitment to the sector for over forty (40) years and told the story of choosing his first employment in the Agriculture Industry for a salary of Six Hundred and fifty dollars instead of working at a banking institution for Nine Hundred dollars.<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Mr. Owolabi Elabanjo, underscored the unique role youth can play in agriculture, emphasizing that their energy, creativity, and technological savvy have the potential to revolutionize traditional farming practices, much like the agricultural transformation seen in China today.<\/p>\n

Mr. Gregory Bailey in his address related to the common misconception that \u2018A<\/strong>griculture<\/strong>\u2019 and farming are the same. He explained that this confusion often skews public discourse around food security and the efforts being made to address it. By broadening the understanding of agriculture to include a wider range of related activities, Director Bailey hopes to foster more informed discussions and better decision-making with youth participation.<\/p>\n

In the feature address, Minister Anthony Smith Jr., delivered heartfelt remarks to the young attendees, stressing the vital role agriculture plays in the nation\u2019s future. Recognizing the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in supporting food security efforts. \u00a0The Minister encouraged young people to seize the opportunities available in farming and agricultural innovation.\u00a0 Moreover, He shared exciting updates from his recent visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA). As he described the activities and the tremendous involvement of the youth.\u00a0 Proudly he informed the students that the farmer of 2024 was a 30year old producer from Dominica.<\/p>\n

The seminar featured presentations on various agricultural occupations, with a particular focus on modern practices such as drone farming, showcasing how technology can be leveraged to improve efficiency and yields in agriculture. \u00a0Making these presentations were producers and agricultural technicians such as Twin I Payne, Michael Joseph, Neil Gomes, Bradbury Browne, Victor Wade and Adrian Bowen. The intention of this exposure to the cutting-edge techniques was to inspire and intrigue the youth to view agriculture not just as traditional farming but as a sector ready for innovation.<\/p>\n

As World Food Day continues and thereafter, the Youth in Agriculture Seminar serves as a reminder of the pivotal role young people play in securing the future of food production in Antigua and Barbuda. With the support of local leaders and a renewed sense of purpose, Antigua\u2019s youth are poised to take on the challenges of tomorrow, ensuring that the nation\u2019s agricultural sector continues to thrive.<\/p>\n

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World Food Day celebrations in Antigua were highlighted by the Youth in Agriculture Seminar, hosted at the Agricultural Extension Division on October 14th, with a focus on engaging young people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fao","category-news-notices"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11386"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11389,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11386\/revisions\/11389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agriculture.gov.ag\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}