Young people in St. Kitts to benefit once more from Community Achievers Project (CAP)

ZIZ News…Nov 23 2011 – Partners of the Americas, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is sending a specialist in community development and agriculture extension to St. Kitts and Nevis to provide continued training to the CAP member youth and Riches of the Earth Farm.

Mr. Jim Resick, Community Development Educator with the University of Wisconsin-Extension Service, will be volunteering his time to provide training to youth and farm managers in organic vegetable gardening, business planning, and low-cost direct marketing.

This training from November 19- December 3, 2011will build upon previous assistance provided earlier this year by FTF volunteer Tom Syverud.

The Community Achievers Project (CAP) was founded in 2005 and started with an educational program for at-risk youth aged 6 – 16 years old and later added organic agriculture activities to teach vocational skills to youth.

Composting and Square Metre Planting

Key areas of activity include organic agriculture, agro processing (for ex. peanut butter), floriculture, and making souvenirs out of natural resources for tourist markets.

The CAP has also collaborated in the past with Partners of the Americas’ A Ganar sport for development Program in St. Kitts.

The trip is sponsored by Partners of the Americas specifically the Farmer to Farmer Program.

The Farmer to Farmer Program improves economic opportunities in rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean by increasing food production and distribution, promoting better farm and marketing operations and conserving natural resources. The program is supported by Congress and the Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the United States foreign assistance program. Farmer to Farmer brings together agricultural professionals and practitioners from the U.S. and the Caribbean. Volunteers from the U.S. work with farmers and agribusiness owners to identify local needs and design projects to address them.