Study Tour St. Vincent

Study Tour by North East Farmers Organisation (NEFO) to
ST. Vincent and the Grenadines
Tuesday 24th – Saturday 28th August, 2010.

Tour Objective and Approach The goal of the Tour was to identify key production and propagation techniques practiced in St. Vincent and the Grenadines that will enhance NEFO’s present and future crop production, for greater economic, financial and work-task force building opportunities. The tour provided participants with the knowledge and information needed to enhance marketing, business development, services and networking in the agribusiness sector for the organization. This was done through NEFO farmers’ witnessing the production practices of Dasheen, Yams, Eddoes and Sweet Potatoes on both the Leeward and Windward locations on the island and from visits to CARDI’s experimental station, Ministry of Agriculture propagation station and the Taiwan’s experimental plot.



Summary
Six farmers from the North East Farmers Organization (NEFO) of Grenada visited St.Vincent and the Grenadines through a field study tour program hosted by ECTAD in collaboration with FAO, the All ACP Commodities Programme (AAACP)1 and CaFAN from Tuesday August 24th – Saturday 27th 2010. The tour aimed at assisting NEFO farmers on best agricultural practices and strategies toward increasing Roots and Tubers production and marketing.

1All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme is 45 €M initiative funded by the European Union. Its overall objective consists in improving incomes and livelihoods for ACP producers of traditional and other agricultural commodities, and to reduce income vulnerability at both producer and macro levels. Specifically it seeks to strengthen the capacity of ACP stakeholders all along the commodity value chain to develop and implement sustainable commodity strategies. For more details please click on the following link www.euacpcommodities.eu

The Study Tour included visits to various agriculture areas such as Mespotamia, Vermont and Orange Hill where NEFO farmers were able to witness the developmental efforts of farmers and farming stakeholders whilst sharing their own experiences. The workshop was deemed a success as NEFO farmers expressed interest to practice the techniques learnt in St. Vincent. These include the use of simple but innovative methods to combat the problems of inconsistency in production and marketing, the challenges of the global economies and praedial larceny.

The agricultural industry in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is being practiced on both the Leeward and Windward ends of the country. This allows for the decentralization of goods produced which in turn formulates the ground for specialization of the farmers by taking into account various integrated farming systems.

On the Windward side in places such as Akers, Richland Park and Greiggs, farmers are well known for dasheen while in Orange Hill and Waterloo area, sweet potatoes is the main crop. Driving through the Leeward end, the farmers of Vermont are exceptional for growing eddoes and the farmers from Richmond just off the town of Chateaubelair are known for Pineapples.