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CTA at CWA 2012: Working together to realise the potential of agriculture in the Caribbean

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Full title: 'CTA at CWA 2012: Working together to realise the potential of agriculture in the Caribbean'. Designed by Scriptoria. Produced for the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) ahead of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) 2012.

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Page 1: CTA brochure | CTA at CWA 2012

CTA at CWA 2012: Working together to realise the potentialof agriculture in the Caribbean

Page 2: CTA brochure | CTA at CWA 2012

Contents

Welcome from Michael Hailu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Youth and rural modernisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Climate-smart agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Nutrition security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Value Chains and ICTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Linking science and media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

About CTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

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Dear CWA Participant,

CTA is committed to advancing theCaribbean region's agenda of achieving foodand nutrition security and promotingsustainable agricultural development. Inclose partnership with key institutions andgroups from the public, private and civilsociety sectors, CTA contributes to efforts inmeeting the multi-faceted challenges ofclimate change, socio-economictransformation and the preservation of theproductive capacity of the region's naturalresources.

Sustainable agricultural developmentrequires sound and inclusive policies andstrategies, as well as innovations in newapproaches and technologies. TheCaribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) is aunique event that brings together experts,stakeholders and policy-makers and enablesthem to engage in constructive dialoguesupported by evidence from research andpractice.

As always, CTA will be actively engaged insupporting the CWA in 2012. In particular,CTA is co-organising a number of workshops

on themes ranging from climate changeadaptation to value chain development, roleof media, ICTs and agriculture, youth andrural modernisation, and policies forachieving food and nutrition security. CTA willnot only sponsor participants from theCaribbean and other ACP regions but it willalso have many of its staff members activelycontribute to the workshops.

We trust that the participation of a widerange of stakeholders at the CWA willcontribute to designing and implementingpolicies, strategies and practices that willenhance sustainable agriculturaldevelopment in the Caribbean.

I wish you all a fruitful and enjoyable CWA2012.

Michael Hailu, Director3

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Promoting employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in agriculture to Caribbean youth by strengthening their skills and capacities

Promoting employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in agriculture to Caribbean youth by strengthening their skills and capacities

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Investing in youth to helptransform the agriculturalsector in the Caribbean

The average age of the Caribbean farmer is 45and the majority of farmers in the region are over60 years of age. This hard hitting statistic isreason alone why 'youth' should be synonymouswith the future of agriculture in the region.

However, it is not only about replacing olderfarmers. The active engagement of young peoplein agriculture is a win-win for both the sector andyouth. The transformation of this sector dependson the abilities and innovativeness of youngpeople. Sound agricultural development policiesand programmes offer young people modernemployment and career opportunities especiallyin rural areas where they are confronted with highunemployment rates.

Knowledge and technologies are at the heart ofthe modernisation of the agricultural sector.Technologies (including agricultural technologiesand ICTs) increase the productivity of the sector,improve its adaptation and mitigation capabilitiesto climate change and link agriculture with othereconomic sectors such as trade andmanufacturing.

Modern agriculture is a business that requiressound management from farm to fork. Itnecessitates continuous adaptation andinnovation. This offers exciting opportunities tothose able to innovate along the agricultural valuechain. Well educated and ICT-savvy young peopleare in a perfect position to take advantage ofthese possibilities.

Investing in the development of capacities andopportunities for youth ensures that they can playa unique role in agricultural development. Thesecapacities are developed through education andtraining as well as open access to information andknowledge. Opportunities for young people resultfrom conducive environments for employment and self-employment, entrepreneurship, access to assets such as finance, land and equipment as well as mechanisms for engagement withpolicy processes.

It is clear thatagriculture needsto attract youngpeople includingthose with talentand highereducation.

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Action: CTA organised the 'Youth in AgricultureBlog Competition (YoBloCo)' in 2011. Launchedunder the framework of the ARDYIS initiative(http://ardyis.cta.int) the blog competition wasopen to both individuals including agriculturalstudents, young farmers and journalists, and toinstitutions such as farmers' organisations.

Results: The blog by the Agribusiness Society ofUWI was voted best blog for the Caribbean regionin the 'institutional' category. The blog is updatedby students at the university and focuses on howtechnologies can positively impact agri-development at all levels.

Action: CTA has been working with keyorganisations in the Caribbean such as CARDI,CCST and UWI to engage professionals in science,technology and innovation for addressingagricultural challenges. Several activities havebeen organised including a video and filmcompetition.

Results: The winning video was ‘Bee wise’ fromTrinidad and Tobago and highlighted the negativeenvironmental impact of poor agriculturalpractices.

Next steps: CTA works together with CAFAN, CAFY,IICA, CARAPN and other partners to contribute tothe design and implementation of coherent multi-sectoral national and regional 'youth inagricultural' policies. They are also collaboratingto equip leaders and representatives of youth-based organisations with skills to engage in valuechain development as well as to contribute to,and influence policy development in agriculture.

An important dimension of CTA's work on youth inagriculture is to facilitate the sharing of knowledgeand experiences between the Africa, Caribbeanand Pacific regions and to link these regions withglobal networks.

Taking action

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Capacities of andopportunities for youth

Young people areoften not heardwhen it comes tovoicing the issuesthey face inagriculture. Othersare unaware of theopportunitiesoffered bytechnologies foragricultural andrural development.The challenge ishow to provide amedium to allowyouth to engage inagriculture.

Keron Bascombe, UWI Agribusiness Society blogger

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Helping Caribbean policy makers, practitioners and scientists uncover inspirational solutions for climate-smart agriculture

Helping Caribbean policy makers, practitioners and scientists uncover inspirational solutions for climate-smart agriculture

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Climate-smart agriculture inthe Caribbean

The need to implement CARICOM's 'RegionalFramework for Achieving Development Resilienceto Climate Change' is clear. In this respect, CTAhas been working very closely with CARDI, 5Cs,UWI, CIMH and other institutions to promote andsupport climate-smart agriculture in theCaribbean.

Caribbean countries are particularly exposed andvulnerable to climate change. In the region,drought, pests and disease control, as well as theuse of appropriate crop varieties, are particularchallenges. Plenty can be done, however,allowing this region to adapt to climate changewhile promoting climate change mitigation at aglobal scale.

Translating the science of climate change intopolicy language will go a long way to ensuringclearer understanding of the issues andstrengthening the flow of knowledge andexperiences between researchers, the farmingcommunity and policy-makers. This will have aprofound effect when it comes to developingsound solutions to climate change at regional,national, and community level. Farmers have a

real chance to adopt climate smart technologiesthat are technically, socially and financiallyfeasible as well as being environmentally friendly.

Water resource management is one of the keyareas where better institutional capacity isneeded. This demands more integrated waterresource policies and reaching a balance in thecompetition for scarce water resources. Linkagesbetween those who use water, such asproducers, those who make policies and thosewho impact the quality of water through wasteand pollution, need to be nurtured. Innovatorsand entrepreneurs also have a role to play inidentifying how best to both control water lossthrough wastage and improve effectiveness inwater use.

In a greeneconomy, farmershave a real chanceto adopt climate-smart technologiesthat are technically,socially andfinancially feasibleas well as beingenvironmentallyfriendly.

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It has been recognised that more has to be doneto open the flow of communication in order tocapitalise on networks and learn from theexperiences of others to identify and adopt thebest climate resilient cultivars.

Action: In 2010 and 2011, CTA, in partnership withCARDI supported synthesis and innovative casestudies, cross-learning workshops, policycommunication and advocacy work on ProtectedAgriculture and Water Resources Management.Following this work, national consultations wereheld for engagement with stakeholders and policymakers to test ideas and inform decision makingon matters requiring policy action.

Media professionals were engaged to capturepublic support for the issues and encouragestakeholders and policy makers to turn policy intoaction.

Results: Policy recommendations from theseactions have been submitted by CARDI toCARICOM's Technical Management AdvisoryCommittee for endorsement and submission tothe Council for Trade and Economic Development(COTED) for decision.

Next steps: Climate resilient plant geneticresources: CTA and CARDI, together with UWI,Bioversity and other partners are working togetherto improve understanding and consensus amongstakeholders on key policy issues regarding plantgenetic resources in the context of climatechange. They are collaborating to provide policymakers with options to develop informed regionalclimate change resilient policies in relation toplant genetic resources. In this context, CTAfacilitates linkages and sharing of knowledge andexperiences between the Caribbean and otherACP regions and global networks.

Taking action

PromotingClimate ResilientAgriculture in theCaribbean

While there is asignificant amountof information andexperiences on theuse of climateresilient germplasmacross theCaribbean andother regions withsimilar naturalresource conditionsand vulnerability toclimate change,such as the PacificIslands, they havenot been fully usedto inform evidence-based policydialogue anddecisions.

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Bringing together stakeholders to work towards food and nutrition security in the Caribbean

Bringing together stakeholders to work towards food and nutrition security in the Caribbean

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Achieving nutrition security inthe Caribbean

In 2010, CARICOM officially approved the'Caribbean Regional Food and Nutrition SecurityPolicy' (RFNSP) adopting it as a pillar of theCARICOM Common Agricultural Policy. Thechallenge is to turn these intentions into action asforeseen in the Action Plan which accompaniesthe RFNSP.

The impact of nutrition insecurity goes far beyondthe obvious effects on mental and physical growthand development. It is also the cause for theincreased prevalence of chronic but preventablediseases such as diabetes, heart disease and iron-deficiency anaemia. Not only do these illnesseshave a life-long impact on families preventingindividuals from reaching their potential, but theyalso represent a significant economic burden to thecountry due to higher demand for health care.

Nutrition security is key to achieving almost everyMillennium Development Goal and ensuring thecontinued development of the countriesconcerned.

The only effective means of tackling the nutritionsecurity challenge is to adopt a multi-pronged,

The only effectivemeans of tacklingthe nutritionsecurity challengeis to adopt a multi-pronged,multi-sectorapproach to policy.

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multi-sector approach to policy. This is, therefore,not an issue for one sector alone. In order toidentify a practical and successful route forward,inputs from diverse sectors such as agriculture,industry, health, youth, education, sports and eventourism are necessary. Moreover, any policy debateand process should also involve the Civil Societyand private sector in order to address issues atregional, national, community and household level.

Achieving nutrition security is realistic and theCaribbean has a long history of developing policyframeworks in this area. However, it needs toimplement the approved policies involving alllevels of society and address cultural, socio-economic and political-institutional elements. Itshould tackle food prices and ensure a lesserdependency on imports, thus reducing a country'svulnerability to external shocks.

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Action: In 2011, at a Policy Forum/AgriculturalRound Table held during the CWA, CTA, IICA andCARAPN brought together representatives fromagriculture, health, education, the media and othersectors. Under the banner 'The food and nutritioncircle, connecting the dots' participants sought toclarify the issues and understand the roles to beplayed by the various actors to achieve nutritionsecurity. Media professionals were actively involvedin the event acting as facilitators and moderators.This helped reinforce the engagement of the mediawith agricultural processes.

The discussions highlighted a number of keyissues:

1. Price factor: The effect of food pricing on nutrition means that consumers are faced with making choices based on affordability over nutritional quality.

2. Education: Education was generally recognised as the key to achieving nutrition security. Experiences from the School Feeding Programme were shared and the role required from others to make it successful was recognised.

3. Clarity on the issues: The need to 'connect the dots' for everyone in society enabling them to understand the issues around nutritional security was recognised.

4. Linkages: Identification of the links between food and nutrition household vulnerability and practical options for enhancing household self-reliance are necessary.

CTA and CARAPN are currently planning more workat the national level based on positive experienceswith food and nutrition security and are designingmechanisms to feed them back into policy. One oftheir activities involves making efforts to linkeducational programmes such as the SchoolFeeding Programme to the approved CaribbeanRegional Food and Nutritional Security Policy.

Next steps: CTA will continue to work togetherwith CARAPN, IICA, CARICOM Secretariat, FAORegional Office, Caribbean Public Health Agency,UWI, Ministries, Farmers Organisations, and YouthOrganisations to consolidate and expand capacitymechanisms and platforms for inter-sectoral,inter-institutional and multi-stakeholder dialogueand consensus on food and nutrition.

Taking action

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Turning policyinto action:connecting thedots

With the focusfirmly on nutritionsecurity, CTA and itspartners wereaware that thevarious regionaland nationalstakeholdersneeded to improvetheir understandingof the issues athand in order toimplementconducive food andnutrition securitypolicies in theCaribbean.

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Helping Caribbean farmers and entrepreneurs realise the potential that markets offer

Helping Caribbean farmers and entrepreneurs realise the potential that markets offer

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Growing the regional market

The volume of agricultural commodities and value-added produce that is imported into the Caribbeaneach year is an issue that has received significantattention. However, the challenge still remains: howcan some of this be produced competitively in theregion and once available, how can it meet localand regional demand.

The solution would appear to lie in building andstrengthening capacity within the Caribbeanfarming and agribusiness community to producefor the market. This requires farmers to understandwhat to grow when, and a support system thatpermits the efficient linking of buyers and sellers.

The challenge of reducing the region's growingdependency on imported foods is furthercompounded by the threat to the viability of manytraditional crop varieties posed by climate change.Not only do farmers need to build farm-to-forkvalue chains that fully exploit regional fooddemand, they need to do so in a manner that isclimate-smart, able to adapt to the expectedchanges in the region's climate. Farmers and agri-business cannot achieve this alone: they needsupportive government policies and services(research, extension, export promotion,phytosanitary controls), and strong links with other

parts of the economy (e.g., ICTs, packagingservices, finance).

But while demanding, the task is simplified by thegrowing power of ICTs, which are the most readilyavailable and effective tool to make farm-to-forkand farm-to-finance linkages and information flowspossible. These technologies allow smaller players,which dominate in the Caribbean, to compete on amore even playing field with their larger globalcounterparts.

As the 2011 'Mapping Study on Value ChainsInitiatives' undertaken by CTA, found 'ICT have thepotential to improve efficiency by reducing the costof doing business along the agricultural commodityvalue chain and improving conversion of inputsand outputs (horizontal integration). It can alsofacilitate vertical integration by small-scale farmersand entrepreneurs in value chains.'

The solution wouldappear to lie inbuilding andstrengtheningcapacity andnetworks within theCaribbean farmingand agribusinesscommunity toproduce for themarket.

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Action: CARDI, with the support of CTA, launcheda project entitled 'Strengthening ICTs in valuechains in the Caribbean'. This initiative willdocument and review the integration of ICT toolsin Caribbean value chains. It will identify someinternational practices relevant to the region,define recommendations, promote findings andlessons learned and favour the development offuture initiatives.

A methodological workshop will be held duringCWA 2012 and will bring together experts, mainlyfrom key national and regional organisations.Participants will fine-tune the design of the studyto be undertaken and consider stakeholders'recommendations.

Follow up: Following the study, outreach andadvocacy documents will be produced. Astakeholder workshop will also be organised andstrategies to implement some of the keyrecommendations made will be proposed.

This project is one of the many ICT focusedactivities CTA is engaged in to support theapplication of ICT innovations in Caribbeanagriculture.

Taking action

ICTs encourageinnovation in theCaribbean valuechain

Within theCaribbean regionthere is a limitedintegration of ICTsin the agriculturalvalue chain.Moreover, there isnot much known of the initiatives,challenges and the needs ofstakeholdersinvolved in the use of ICT in these chains.

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Linking science and media to

promote public awareness and policy dialogue for sustainable

agricultural development

Linking science and media to

promote public awareness and policy dialogue for sustainable

agricultural development

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Linking media and science

Media has the ability to play a very influential rolein raising the profile of agriculture in the Caribbean.

The power of a pen, photo, interview or storyhighlighting the challenges, failures or successesin agriculture, should not be underestimated.Media professionals can draw public awarenessto important agricultural issues educating them onthe various aspects and angles. Take, forexample, nutritional security. Here media will bevital in informing the public on how to select andprepare nutritious food and passing thisexperience on to the next generation.

At a higher level, the media can rally publicbehind a cause such as climate change, urgingpolicy makers to advance these issues to the topof their agendas. At the same time, journalistsand others have the important task of ensuringpromises are kept and the resulting policiesimplemented.

Media professionals need to be at the cuttingedge when it comes to covering agriculturalissues. This demands a high level ofunderstanding of the key issues surrounding newdevelopments and scientific research inagriculture. The problem, however, is that these

scientists and journalists do not normally interactand even if they meet they are not used tocommunicating in a language that the otherunderstands.

It is, therefore, vital to develop stronger medianetworks and avenues of communicationbetween scientists, policy makers and those in themedia if agriculture in the Caribbean is tomodernise and adapt to the new realities. Eventssuch as the Caribbean Week of Agriculture whichsee media actively engaging with scientists andpolicy makers are essential to strengthening theserelationships.

Media can rally thepublic behind acause such asclimate change,urging policymakers to advancethese issues to thetop of theiragendas.

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What can be done to increase the interest ofmedia professionals to better understand thescience behind agriculture, enabling them toreport accurately and in a timely manner ontopics of critical importance to the Caribbeanpopulation?

Action: During CWA 2012, CTA, CARDI and ACMwill provide scientists and journalists with anopportunity to build on the relationships betweenmedia, policy and agricultural sectors which firststarted in 2006.

The aim is to educate the media and increaseawareness on issues considered to be of criticalimportance to the sustainable development of theagricultural sector in the Caribbean. These include

topics such as fisheries, green economy, coastalarea management and the effects of climatechange on ecosystems and food production.

Media professionals will discuss the challengesand opportunities they face in taking themessages to the public as well as how best touse social media and other ICT tools tocommunicate.

CTA will also support the media coverage of CTAevents during CWA 2012 events in an effort topromote the need for policy response to new andemerging agricultural development issues in theregion.

Follow up: Participants at the workshop willreview the Caribbean media strategy which wasdeveloped in 2010 with the help of CTA and itspartners, taking into consideration newdevelopments and changes as well asachievements. An outline of a mediatoolkit/handbook will also be discussed.

Next steps: CTA will continue to work with ACM,CARDI and the Caribbean media to attract publicand political attention and support to thecontinuous development of the agricultural sector.

Taking action

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Openingavenues ofcommunicationbetweenscientists andmedia

Agriculturalinformation isusually technicaland difficult tounderstand.Information relatedto topics such asclimate change,markets, tariffs,food security, andagribusiness, isoften presentedusing technicaljargon. This needsto be transformedinto understandablemessages foreveryone.

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About CTA

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of theAfrican, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advancefood and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACPcountries. It provides access to information and knowledge, facilitates policy dialogue and strengthens thecapacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities.

CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.

For more information on CTA visit: www.cta.int

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For more information on CTA's products and services visit: www.cta.int

CTA HeadquartersPO Box 380

6700 AJ WageningenThe Netherlands

Tel.: +31 317 467100Fax: +31 317 460067

At CWA 2012, CTA works in partnership with: