Agricultural Youth Forum Hosts Crime, Greenhouse Technology, and Leadership Workshop
(ZIZ News) — Thursday marked the start of a Crime, Greenhouse Technology and Leadership Workshop, which is being organised by the St. Kitts-Nevis Agricultural Youth Forum.
The two-day workshop was preceded by an opening ceremony at the University of the West Indies’ Conference Room.
While the ceremony was punctuated with remarks by several stakeholders, the country’s Agriculture Minister Hon. Eugene Hamilton delivered the featured address.
Minister Hamilton shared his ministry’s vision to ensure that there is growth and development in agriculture.
“My ministry is actively involved in various activities to ensure that the country’s aspirations, as contained in our agenda within the agriculture growth and development, are achieved. There are however, some priority areas including child development, youth development and empowerment. This is because children and youth contribute a significant portion of the population of St. Kitts and Nevis and it makes it imperative therefore that substantive investments are geared towards promoting youth and children,” he said.
Minister Hamilton noted that in the medium term, he expects there will be equitable access to child quality development services and increased absorption of skills and technology and innovation among youth.
“The specific strategies to be implemented include those seeking to promote early childhood development and pre-primary education including the protecting of children against abuse, including eliminating harmful practices that are almost becoming cultural practices, including improving the youth’s technical, vocational and entrepreneurial and life skills and also including improving the use of access to credit facilities for entrepreneurship and the development of the agricultural sector and agricultural leadership,” he said.
Other notable speakers at Thursday’s opening ceremony were Education Minister, Hon. Shawn Richards and representative of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture [IICA], Augustine Merchant.