MOA moving to promote Dominica as global resilience centre for agriculture

St. Martin

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MoAFF), together with international partners, held a 3-day face-to-face meeting and prepared a concept paper presenting Dominica as the Global Resilience Centre for Agriculture.

The workshop included presentations from lead agencies, MoAFF, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CEDEMA), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), CARICOM Development Fund (CDF), Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and The Climate Resilience Execution Agency of  Dominica (CREAD). The workshop included a consultation with critical stakeholders.

The meeting was held at the Prevo Cinemall from the 18th to 20th of February, 2019.

Chaney St. Martin of IICA,  said several technical outputs were achieved in the various meetings.

“We were able to get the consensus on the way forward in terms of developing a concept paper which will be followed by a project document and we also identified the rules and responsibilities of the organisations that are going to contribute to that,” he said.

“I think that in some way, we’re in a good position to go forward; everything is clear as to who has to do what and what has to be done. We have developed a very sound frame work for the centre and that has guided how we are going to implement the strategy of the entire movement,” St. Martin added.

He explained what was discussed on each day. He said that on the first day, they sought to get a profile of the areas of interest of the various institutions in terms of their activities, not only in Dominica, but in the region and other countries.

“The second day, having fulfilled the outputs of the first day, having very clear what the resilience centre is going to look like, we then started talking about other processes in terms of how are we going to continue along that line. The third day, we used it again to flesh out ideas to ensure that all the institutions are on the same page going forward,” the IICA official said.

Reginald Thomas (right)

St. Martin also said that the face to face meeting allowed for a more intimate discussion and clash of ideas in an attempt to solidify things going forward.

Meantime, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Dr. Reginald Thomas noted that the agricultural sector has to transform itself in accordance with Dominica’s goal of becoming the first climate resilient country.

“Post Hurricane Maria, we recognized as a country, the impacts of natural disasters on our food systems, our ability to feed ourselves in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster. It was clear to us that we needed to do things differently,” he said.

Thomas highlighted the importance of building resilience in the agri-food system that produces the food we consume and export.

“…Hence one of the reasons and outputs expected from this centre, where it will transform the sector to make it able to withstand the shock, but importantly, to be able to re-establish itself once an impact has been dealt on the system.”

Thomas also stated that our schools need to understand the meaning of climate resilience and in what ways they can contribute.

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13 Comments

  1. Neville
    February 28, 2019

    … and yet another WORKSHOP where participants talk nonsense all day long. Apart from cost to state finances, never ever something comes out of it. First Skerrit kills agriculture and then his minions follow on to talk it to death. Where is the f….g action???? Stop talking and do something for a change!

  2. February 25, 2019

    St. Martin, mi contemporano..que tal hermano de Santa Lucia.

    I really wonder what kind of weed these people smoking in Dominica. They taking the survival of Dominicans for a joke. I just can’t understand them with this whole resilience thing. They building 2X4 plywood houses and calling that Resilient..a wha di boomb… t a gwan inna i man island? So what they going cultivate now? Life in Da is all and only about the next election?

  3. viewsexpressed
    February 25, 2019

    “…..held a 3-day face-to-face meeting and prepared a concept paper presenting Dominica as the Global Resilience Centre for Agriculture”. I mean are you guys serious, and how many of these useless 3 day meeting will you all have before you guys wake up and get the agricultural sector functioning again. There are too many of these kind of meetings and it appears you all, due to this failed Skerrit, have to prove to the people and farmers of Domininca that “something is or may be happening”. Officers, decent civil servants, nothing is gonna happen as that failed so called Odd Mininister Skerrit and his 18 clown ministers are hoping about the place promoting Skerrit while our people, our farmers, our nature Isle are all struggling because of Skerrit`s ignorance, immaturity, negligent of the socio-economic development of Domininca and wastage of state resources. Stop these three days talk, “to hell with Skerrit” and you all as the professionals go to villages and engage the farmers…

  4. Bring back the kidnapped Dominican parrots
    February 24, 2019

    Dominica needs a M O A for the replacement of everyone in Government. Dominica needs a new government all the way through starting with yours truly the prime minister and full accounting of all millions taken in by yours truly who is also minister of finance. Only then will Dominica be able to move forward in a positive way.

  5. Badbaje
    February 24, 2019

    I would like those interested to read again this statement, paying close attention to the two indicated words.

    The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MoAFF), together with international partners, held a 3-day face-to-face meeting and prepared a “concept paper” presenting Dominica as the Global Resilience Centre for Agriculture.

    Does it raise anyone’s curiosity that almost everything these people present regarding “AGRICULTURE” is some kind of paper or results of a study? Nothing actual or factual, nothing physical, and nothing for the public to actually inspect, like signed documents. Always something “announced at a recent meeting”

    For those who do not know, or are not thinking, a “CONCEPT” is merely an “IDEA” or “OPINION” of something, and everyone has them.

  6. Ibo France
    February 23, 2019

    I have said this repeatedly, Dominica’s main industries should be agriculture and agro processing. All the major ingredients are available for these industries to flourish, arable lands, an abundance of water, favorable climate. The only missing ingredient is leadership. The government has been mis-firing on economic developmental strategies. Instead of pouring so many millions of the CBI money into private hotel development, invest this money into the agriculture sector.

  7. Annon
    February 23, 2019

    Reggie, DA is doomed. I can tell by the look on your face that you are being forced into this scheme. Resilience is equivalent to genocide. These are all the UN Agenda 21 programs. Notice who is funding everything and trace it backwards. Indoctrination of the children in the schools. Look at the skies and see what they are doing to our atmosphere and planet. The fish are washing up dead in many places and pretty soon we may not even have the oxygen to breath. If DA becomes the first climate resilient country, it will also become the first dead country.

  8. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    February 23, 2019

    Are you people not tired of talking nonsense; making Dominica  and your individual self’s look stupid?  “global resilience center for agriculture?” Guy you and all involved are simply talking foolishness. I do not know your level of education, kindergarten, secondary or academic, meaning college or university.

    May I inform you the term “concept” is simple an abstract, or generic idea generalized from particular instances.

    Resilience imply something which bends, cannot brake, however return to it original form or shape. When people are talking about agriculture in any circumstance they are talking about edibles for human/animal consumption.

    What kind of agricultural produce can you grow any place on the planet that is not vulnerable to flood hurricane, drought, Summer heat, and fire? You see how stupid we Dominicans can make ourselves look to the rest of the world?

    What type of agricultural scientific science are you going to use to genetically alter every kind of food…

  9. Zandoli
    February 23, 2019

    These guys just talk for the sake of moving their lips. Global resilience when Dominican farmers are leaving the occupation in droves? Dominicans are leasing their land to Haitians, vendors in the Roseau and Portsmouth markets are 90% Haitian. An agricultural resilient country where foreigners control the production of their food.

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      February 23, 2019

      Zandolie that which the three are talking are pure nonsensical garbage!

      Time wasted talking about a concept where there is no actual science to support the hogwash they are spewing. In the first place there are agricultural plants which grow only in the tropics; and might survive between Spring and Summer in America, and some places in Europe.

      If you want them to survive for the year duration, one will need a green house. So, this global center for agriculture these people are talking about is nothing more than a joke!

      And mind you Agriculture seems to be thriving in other places such as Central America, and South America, the Philippians, Vietnam and other Asian countries too.

      Anything we grow and produce in Dominica on a plantation, are found here in America, and in every place I traveled in Europe; they are imported from the places I mentioned.

      And they are not talking about resilience anything: We are the joke of the universe!

      Nothing more than a laugh!

      • viewsexpressed
        February 25, 2019

        I fully concur. Now what”…for heaven sake and Dominic`s sake, I again ask, what next!? Whatever your outcomes are, please do not share with Skerrit, he is illiterate of the concepts and development of an ailing island economy or lack of, much less to talk about and promoting agriculture. these Labour clowns in office are unable to help ou professionals. I strongly recommend that you people, yes have another meeting, but the topic and discussions must be about getting rid of Skerrit, the Agriculture Minister and that corrupt failed Labour government, along with their incompetent, failed Skerrit and his useless 18 ministers. Please be warned and advised that Skerrit knows nothing of Socio-Economic Develpoment. Skerrit is the papa show politician of Dominica. Skerrit Must Go. He has failed us, big Time. It is time to “Go to Hell, G to Hell, you are none of our damn Business”. We need decency in government and this corrupt Skerrit labour government must Go. Mind all you funky…

  10. Self
    February 22, 2019

    For what? that’s de biggest joke. Boy’s Dominica is no longer involved in agriculture. Thanks to Skerrit.

  11. viewsexpressed
    February 22, 2019

    All we have been hearing about this project is talk, big talk, more talk. Resilience is the talk, why not include incompetence and a failed government? I`m not sure where Domininca is and furthermore not sure where she is going. Does anyone at the table able to answer this simple question, or is it another fly by night talk? We talk of agriculture, but where? Where is it being exported, who is receiving it.? Which part of the island these products are being produced? These civil servants at the top of the table, I really do feel for them. The issue is not them, they are highly professional people who want to use their skills and profession to make a difference in Dominica for our farmers. But CBI has taken over and therefore these professionals are hard at work while Skerrit and his clowns are all over creating a Red Cash Bobol scheme that he may refer to as Resilience. How on earth can anyone build a house without a solid foundation. In this day and age Skerrit dont know? Skerrit Go

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