Dominica’s Agriculture Minister highlights resilience efforts at COP29

Roland Royer, Dominica’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Blue and Green Economy. Photo credit: IICA

As Dominica awaits the fulfillment of financial aid pledges from developed countries under the Paris Agreement, the island nation is working diligently to make its agriculture more sustainable and resilient. Dominica’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Blue and Green Economy, Roland Royer said recently at COP29, that Dominica was working to achieve that goal with support from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and other international organizations.

Royer emphasized the importance of the country’s agriculture sector, which includes around 6,000 active farmers. “The resilience of our agriculture sector is crucial not only for Dominica but for the entire Caribbean region, as much of our production has been exported to neighboring islands for decades,” Royer explained.

Minister Royer participated in activities at the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas pavilion, operated by IICA at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. He highlighted the vulnerability of developing countries in the region to extreme weather events, despite their minimal carbon emissions. “Like other developing countries in the region, we emit almost no carbon or other greenhouse gases, but are extremely vulnerable to increasingly frequent and more extreme weather events,” Royer said.

Royer reminded his audience of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in September 2017, which significantly damaged Dominica. “We had to rebuild not only the agriculture sector but the entire country, and we had to do it with our own resources, even though we are not responsible for climate change,” he added, calling for support from the international community, particularly industrialized countries.

The minister also highlighted Dominica’s 40-year relationship with IICA. “IICA has been a good friend of Dominica over the past four decades in terms of transferring technologies, helping farmers, and improving the lives of rural communities in general. IICA has also helped to get young people interested in agriculture and provided great support to women in the communities,” he said.

Royer shared his personal experience with IICA, having participated in a training program in Costa Rica in 2019.

“I believe this program gave me the impetus to continue in the sector and try to improve. The organization is essential for farmers to acquire knowledge and be more competitive in the market. So we thank IICA for its support over the past forty years and we look forward to continuing to work together,” he concluded.

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4 Comments

  1. Labour power
    November 25, 2024

    When Rosie Douglas brought Bernie Grant a member of the British parliament to Dominica,Grant told Dominicans do not depend of bananas,because Dominica was going to lose their preferential treatment on the British market.A-holes like you said Grant and Rosie were liars,that is when $1 a pound of bananas was born under UWP.You and the other blue A- holes said Rosie was playing politics and that he was a communist,arsonist,deportee and a jailbird.The banana farmers refuse to diversify,they listened to jacka’s like you and in the process UWP killed the banana industry.Dominicans will never forget.Under this DLP government agriculture is alive and doing well,no longer will the people vote a party of liars do nothing’s and conartists.Ask Edincort St.Ville what happened to the land at Tarreau he said belong to his family,the land he use to cultivate.The land where UWP was suppose to build the Domlec power plant.The land UWP spend over $1,000,000 to build.The land of potatoes,corn and…

    • mad people on dno
      November 28, 2024

      are u a crazy person? the banana industry is still alive in st.lucia and st.vincent. its the labor powder government who allowed black sigatoga to decimate the bananas in dominca and a prime minister who says if not CBI then what? smh

  2. Ibo France
    November 25, 2024

    Roosevelt and all his cabinet ministers are honest Liars. They attend outside conferences, symposiums and meetings, give the world the impression that fantastic growth is happening in the country when the opposite obtains.

    Has agriculture improved or declined under Roosevelt’s stewardship? The banana industry is indisputable evidence. While this specific industry is starving in next door St. Lucia, it’s practically dead as an export crop n Dominica.

    Just like most of the local media houses, the regional and international media do no fact checking of these fairytale stores by this regime, so their blatant lies usually pass as unquestionable truth.

    To all media houses, before posting statements made by any member of the
    Roosevelt-led calculating idiocracy, ensure to scrutinise them with a SUPER fine tooth comb.

    • Ibo France
      November 26, 2024

      Correction: STARVING in St. Lucia should be STRIVING in St. Lucia

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