By Carlena Knight
Farmers on the sister isle are being given a helping hand to increase their production and irrigation techniques.
Craig Thomas, of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), says representatives from his group, the Ministry of Agriculture and other parties will be journeying to Barbuda to assist farmers.
“There are a number of farmers in Barbuda who need support. Presently, we are engaging a group, the Be Foundation, where we will be in Barbuda next week doing a number of activities in an effort to increase production in Barbuda.
“Also, to increase the technological approach to agriculture with respect to irrigation, supplies and also how they can increase their production,” Thomas explained.
There are also plans afoot to conduct three weeks of training with the GARD Centre on a business development project entitled “Strengthening coastal and marine climate resilience through upland and coastal ecosystem-based adaptation and community engagement”.
The project which began in 2021 is a two-phase programme.
The first phase saw the installation of the Vetiver Education and Empowerment Project (VEEP) using vetiver grass to control soil erosion in June 2021. The second involves equipping local handicraft makers with the entrepreneurial skills to run ‘green’ businesses using the grass which is said to have medicinal properties.
Thomas said the VEEP initiative is a very promising field for local residents.
“We have a project right now with the GARD Centre where we are actually going to start a three-week training course in the evening where we will be adding value to what we call the vetiver grass,” he said.
“It is just using the vetiver grass where you can use it to add value to it so, for example, persons have already started to make wines. Persons have already started to make soaps, plus persons are already using it to make oils.
“Again, these are mechanisms that are put in place so persons in Antigua and Barbuda with niche markets can develop their entrepreneurship,” he said.
One vetiver plant can produce an average of 50 plantlets under favourable conditions.
The project, which is a regional initiative, is currently being executed in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Lucia, and Tobago.
It is funded under the CBF EbA Facility, financed by the government of Germany and the German Development Bank with resources from the International Climate Initiative of the German Ministry of the Environment.