Central School Farm Receives Gardening Tools Courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture
Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 25, 2022 (MOA Media & Communication Unit) — In honour of World Food Day, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Marine Resources and Cooperatives celebrated the youths of our nation by donating several boxes of gardening tools to the Central School Farm on October 19th 2022.
Members of the World Food Day–Week of Activities committee, Crop Extension Officers, Reiner Ferdinand and Kevin Jeffers, Assistant Secretary, Kyle Flanders and Honourable Samal Duggins, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Marine Resources and Cooperatives were present to officially hand over the tools to Manager of the Central School Farm, Lindbergh Bell.
Also present was the Education Officer responsible for primary schools, Lester Richards, who expressed his deepest thanks on behalf of the Ministry of Education and highlighted the mission for primary school students island-wide.
“Our mission is to hand over tools to the school farm who would then make sure that they get into the right hands of the primary schools that need it… I can assure you [we’re gonna utilize] them wisely. As the person who would be assisting schools I will do a proper assessment and then issue accordingly” he said.
In addition, Mr Richards commented on the efforts to improve Sustainable Agriculture as well as encouraging students to become more involved in the sector.
“We speak about Sustainable Agriculture and so we really want to improve in all aspects. We are going to welcome these tools and we’re gonna be seeking assistance in terms of seeds, chemicals, fertilizers and even support from the persons in the agri-department who can come and speak to the students and encourage them, motivate them and let them have an appreciation of Agriculture not just in school but as they finish with the school later on”, Richards said.
The Honourable Samal Duggins, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Marine Resources and Cooperatives, expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the ministry and its steadfast dedication to executing its goals.
“As I stand here today as Minister responsible for Agriculture, Fisheries, Marine Resources and Cooperatives I am pleased because I made a commitment earlier this year to transform the sector and now given that mandated responsibility I am under a mission of transformation. Standing here today we see another gesture that will move that mission forward where we are donating tools to our children through the school farm which manages all the farms of all the schools in the country, and these tools we expect to go a long way in transforming the mind-set of our young ones into a more positive mind-set towards Agriculture where it becomes cool…when it becomes cool, fun, and exciting by our youth then it becomes a ministry that our young people will be looking forward to being a part of and that is exactly what we want,” he stated.
Hon. Samal Duggins made further remarks about pushing forward with the established agenda of involving and exposing the youth to Agriculture to ensure longevity in this particular ministry.
“The only way that we could move our transformation or agenda forward is to have the buy-in of our youth because they are the future; they are the ones that when we want to sit in our rocking chairs they will be the productive sector out there producing, and if we don’t grab them now and harness that now then we may be in for a future that we may not be happier… that is why we are taking this step forward; to ensure we mould those young minds into a more positive outlook in Agriculture and these tools I hope will go a very long way in shaping that and as a minister, I am pleased to be donating these tools today”, the Minister expressed.
The Minister ended by highlighting the ministry’s commitment to involving the youth in its quest to increase food production, enhance food security and improve the nutritional status of the population which will help the federation achieve CARICOM’s 25% by 2025 agenda.