Cayman’s farmers and consumers can look forward to a new sense of purpose from Government in assisting agriculture.
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The announcement from Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts at Friday’s Cabinet briefing follows the fostering of key alliances made by Government officials at this year’s Caribbean Week of Agriculture.
Mr. Tibbetts, who headed Cayman’s delegation to the event in Nassau, Bahamas 2-7 October, said attendance to the CWA had galvanized Cayman’s senior agriculture officials.
He said contacts have been made for technical support in the region, which will help Government move forward in its own plans for an agro-tourism project.
‘Our officers from the Ministry [of Agriculture] and the Department of Agriculture came home with a renewed sense of purpose in pursuing a new direction for agriculture for the Cayman Islands,’ he said.
The news will provide a welcome boost to the islands’ farmers, hoteliers, food distributors and consumers who it is anticipated will benefit greatly in terms of reduced costs, increased supplies, greater choices and improved agriculture practices.
The Cayman Islands CWA delegation included the chief agricultural and veterinary officer, several other officers of the Ministry and the Department of Agriculture and the president of the Cayman Islands Agricultural Society.
Delegation members attended a wide range of workshops, talks and meetings. These included modern aquaculture and fisheries, agro-tourism, eco-tourism, green tourism, food tourism and organic farming.
Mr. Tibbetts described the high-level meetings with the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute as productive and said they had clearly demonstrated the impressive levels of technical support such agencies are interested in giving Cayman.
The talks revealed an eagerness on the part of the IICA to embrace the Cayman Islands as an associate member of the institution, he said.
‘The director-general agreed that the IICA was the institution that was best positioned to offer a package comprising of a team of specialists to help the Ministry and the Department of Agriculture facilitate any changes to strategic direction organizational structure and legislative framework.’
Mr. Tibbetts said the first step would be the Ministry making a formal application for associate membership to the IICA’s Board of Governors.
He said the organisation’s director of operations, Caribbean Area, would get things going once the Cayman Islands asked for technical assistance from IICA through CARICOM.
Cayman’s proposed membership of CARDI was also discussed as well as the proposed future involvement of that organisation in technical projects in Cayman.
Contacts were also made with Trinidadian representatives, which might prove useful in furthering the DoA’s commitment of gearing up toward integrated pest management in Cayman.
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