By Robert Andre Emmanuel
The Ministry of Agriculture has announced plans to implement a comprehensive restructuring of the organization in an effort to fulfill the need for new talent and additional analytical personnel in the ministry while developing new financial partnerships to strengthen the sector’s capacity and attract increased private investment.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Director of Agriculture Gregory Bailey spoke of the need to strengthen the ministry’s advisory services and create better integration between research, extension services, and plant protection departments.
“We need to strengthen our advisory services because while we want the brightest, most brilliant farmers, these farmers also require some level of advice,” Bailey stated, hoping to break down the ministry’s ‘operational silos’.
Permanent Secretary Walter Christopher supported and emphasized the focus on human resource development, including plans to review and enhance remuneration packages.
“The most important resource is the human resource,” Christopher stated, particularly emphasizing improvements needed within the extension department.
The future restructuring will develop what the officials described as “agricultural professionals, not just farmers”, but will include engineers, livestock specialists, and agricultural scientists.
This potential internal reform has coincided with the ministry’s relaunch of the Antigua and Barbuda Agriculture Forum for Youth (ABAFY).
Minister of Agriculture Anthony Smith Jr highlighted ABAFY’s track record of developing agricultural leaders, noting that several current agricultural leaders, including the ministry’s head of communications, Carol-Faye Bynoe-George and the head of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Antigua and Barbuda, Craig Thomas, are former ABAFY executives.
Meanwhile, on the financial front, Smith revealed ongoing discussions with local financial institutions to develop specialized lending programs.
“We’re in talks with local financial institutions to help us develop an avenue where farmers will be able to borrow money to develop their farms,” Smith explained, adding that this would complement existing funding through the Entrepreneurial Development Fund.
The Ministry of Agriculture is also encouraging farmers to form associations in order to access international funding opportunities directly.
“You have to be within an organization in order to access that type of funding,” Christopher explained, emphasizing the need for more group initiatives in the private sector.
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