Black Immigrant Daily News

Noting the challenges achieving sustainable impact by development projects, Canada’s Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan was pleased to see the sustainable impact of farmers and market actors reaping successes four years after they recevied support through the Global Affairs Canada funded Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Enterprises and Linkages (PROPEL) project.

During his visit to Jamaica on January 12, Minister Sajjan, while touring project sites in Glastonbury, Trelawny; Cascade, St Ann and Coleyville in Manchester, noted that the project had exceeded his expectations.

“This project has exceeded my expectations. Just imagine what’s been accomplished with teaching people about using good quality seeds and now they’re able to do second and third planting…rather than just purchasing them, they’re able to now continue to plant and each farmer is doing this so it’s actually creating a really good sustainable opportunity,” he shared.

PROPEL, which was implemented in Jamaica by World University Service of Canada (WUSC) in partnership with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries from 2013-2017, aided in the transformation of Jamaica’s local potato market with the implementation of a potato based economic growth project.

The PROPEL initiative was a J$2 billion (CAD $20 million) undertaking across five countries: Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica and Saint Lucia, that was aimed at significantly reducing the Caribbean’s food imports and increasing farmers’ and processors’ access to external markets. Today, the project credits sustained success to the active participation of stakeholders from across the potato market-system, including government officials, research institutions, extension services, private sector input providers, buyers and buyer groups, storage providers, credit institutions, producers and producer groups.

Now, four years later, producers supported through project partners such as Glastonbury Purveyors Co. under the project are still earning livelihoods from their potato crops. The PROPEL model was used to develop the Sustainable Agriculture in the Caribbean (SAC) project, which is also funded by the Government of Canada and is currently being implemented by WUSC Caribbean in five countries: Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Suriname.

As a part of his visit to Jamaica, Minister Sajjan visited the Glastonbury Purveyors Co. in Manchester, where he met with owner & CEO, Hugh Gentles. Glastonbury was the first private sector firm the PROPEL project worked with in order to pilot the importation of improved quality planting materials and developing interlocking agreements with potatoes producers.

Partly as a consequence of the PROPEL-supported interventions in the potato market system, Jamaica reached its highest level of domestic production of potatoes in 2017 and have had no reported cases of crop failure due to seed quality since 2016. Elite seeds were imported from the Netherlands and Canada based on farmers preferences and used for potato variety trials. This helped to satisfy 70% of local Irish potato consumption.

Minister Sajjan also welcomed the project’s ability to promote sustainable living.

“I love that this project has been able to make a difference for Jamaica. One of the most notable changes is the fact that the country no longer depends solely on imports for products such as potatoes and is now able to produce enough to supply seventy percent of the local market. That for me is a huge accomplishment in regards to sustainability. We want to see more jobs and more means for sustainable livelihoods,” he stated.

Samuel Lynch, a farmer from Lucky Hill St. Mary, who benefitted from the project through Glastonbury Purveyors Co., attested to this impact, noting that his farming business is now able to employ several workers. He received 20 bags of potato in year 1 of the project then a hundred bags in years 2 and 3.

“Before benefiting from this initiative, I felt like giving up on planting Irish potatoes but this project gave me hope and the push I needed to continue. So, I must say thanks to the WUSC Caribbean and Glastonbury team for the support, because without them I would not be farming right now. I am now able to employ several workers who are also grateful for the help,” he said.

According to Minister Sajjan, the data and knowledge gained from the potato programme in Jamaica will aid other efforts within the region.

“Although a major part of my trip is to assess the work that our team has been doing here, we also want to use the opportunity to learn. Everything we’ve learned throughout this project will be a guide to how we implement similar projects not only in the wider Caribbean, but also around the world,” the Minister noted.

Meanwhile, WUSC Caribbean Director, Doug Graham says PROPEL has provided important lessons for the current Sustainable Agriculture in the Caribbean (SAC) project, which addresses gaps in the previous one.

“When we were working on PROPEL, we realised that we weren’t offering enough support to women and youth in agriculture so we decided to implement our current SAC project as a means of addressing that oversight. The project looks at how we can create more opportunities for women and youth in agriculture by providing them with resources and access to knowledge of best agriculture practices that promote climate smart agriculture”, he said.

The current Global Affairs Canada funded SAC project in Jamaica, is currently supporting women, youth and male producers in Jamaica to promote increased productivity and climate smart agricultural practices in the herbs and spices and small ruminants (goats) market systems.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The United Nations (UN) has welcomed the British Virgin Islands’ (BVI’s) recommendation that “resilience” feature in all UN programmes implemented in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean which are aimed at accelerating sustainable development.

The recommendation was made at the recent inaugural Joint-Steering Committee meeting of the Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (MSDCF) for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

In his intervention at the meeting, BVI Representative to the UN and Special Envoy of the Premier, Benito Wheatley, stated, “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is the aspiration of all Caribbean Countries and Territories, but there is a risk that the progress we are making with generous UN support could be wiped out by a hurricane or other natural disaster such as an earthquake of volcanic eruption. Thus, it is imperative that all UN agencies in the development assistance they are delivering factor in resilience. As a subregion, we have to build up our capacity to bounce back from natural disasters while striving to achieve the SDGs.”

The recommendation was accepted by the co-chairs of the Joint Steering Committee: UN Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Mr. Didier Trebucq and Barbados Minister of State Senator Dr. Hon. Shantal Munro-Knight; and integrated into the outcomes of the meeting.

Wheatley also reaffirmed the BVI’s commitment to engagement with the UN and confirmed that the BVI Government is very pleased with the Territory’s cooperation with the UN Development System, including benefitting from:

UN Joint Programme: “Resilient Caribbean: Engaging & Training Youth and Strengthening Integrated Social Protection Sector Delivery,” through which UNICEF is assisting the BVI Government with a review of its social assistance programmes and how they can be improved.
UN FUT-Tourism Programme: “Rethinking Tourism and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises,” which has awarded several grants to local BVI businesses.
UN Covid-19 response for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean
UN Joint Programme: “Social Protection and employability promotion to mitigate the socio-economic impact of COVID-19,” which provided a grant of $362,000 to help fund the BVI Government’s Income Support Programme for persons affected by Covid-19.

He also thanked the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for deploying consultants to assist the BVI Government with the development of a National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP), and commended the work of the World Food Programme (WFP) in assisting the BVI with developing a social registry and strengthening social protection policies and systems. Additionally, the BVI’s UN Representative praised the work of the UNDP BVI Office that has been highly responsive to the needs of the Territory, especially regarding assistance to small businesses, support for e-government and sustainable development.

The purpose of the meeting held on Jan. 24 was to officially establish the MSDCF Joint Steering Committee, review the results achieved thus far under the MSDCF (2022-2026), and to discuss implementation challenges and recommended adjustments. The MSDCF was approved in 2022 by the UN Development System and Caribbean Governments to guide the programmatic work of the UN in the region.

Wheatley was joined by Assistant Secretary for External Affairs Dwynel Davies.

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Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector, Colin Jordan, signed off on the Third Study Session and Training Project being organised by the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The signing ceremony was held Saturday in the conference room of the Ministry of Labour, Third Floor, Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael. It was also attended by UNDP Resident Representative Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Limya Eltayeb and Executive Coordinator, CYEN, Reginald Burke.

Noting that Third Sector organisations, such as CYEN, are integral to country development, Minister Jordan stressed that no government in any country could do all that is required to build capacity in people, train them or provide services for all of the population.

Emphasising that it was for this reason Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and Government identified a portfolio with responsibility for the Third Sector, Minister Jordan initialled the document that will assist with training for students and youth organisation leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Expressing pleasure on behalf of his Ministry, Mr. Jordan said: “We wish CYEN continued success as they use these funds, approximately US $25,000. We hope that these funds are used to further the cause, to fight the battles that need to be fought, to sensitise young people and for young people to sensitise the world, to prick the consciences of those of us who are the contributors and those others who are contributors to the negative that is taking place, and we really wish them well.”

It was disclosed that the project had the potential to cause the world to take cognizance of the fact that small island developing states are vulnerable and need the world to understand this, as well as facilitate their resilience to the impacts of the change through adaptation and mitigation.

While Minister Jordan pointed out that the focus on the environment in the training was important, he stressed the fact that the youth were leading this fight was “even more significant for us”.

While the partnership was given the assurance that there would be continued assistance, the Labour Minister stressed this would also be extended to all third sector organisations involved in country development.

Adding that the UN system had been good to Barbados, he praised the UNDP “for continuing to recognise that small states like ours are good partners” and said he looked forward to continued partnerships.

UNDP Representative, Eltayeb, in commending the collaborative effort, remarked: “It signifies South-South cooperation. It signifies the collaboration across continents and across nations [where we] put our hands together and really fight the climate issue, but also spread the opportunities of trade and economic development. And who are better advocates and champions to start that collaboration than youth.

“We used to say in the past, the youth are the future. The youth are not the future; the youth are the present. They are the now. They are the ones that we have to co-create and co-design the solutions with. They are the ones that will take the burden in the future, of our generations having not acted, and they’re the ones that have the innovative approaches needed to come up with new ways of solving these complex crises and complexities that we face today.”

To CYEN, she said: “I’m really proud that the collaboration is with your network in particular, because you span the Caribbean. So it is Barbados; it is the Caribbean; it is the totality of this sub region. But also in this initiative, you are bringing other youth from other continents from Africa, from South America, and that in itself is one of the strengths of this collaboration. We really wish you the best. We know that you are building leaders, and that the training and workshops and discussions will prepare them to deal with these issues.”

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