Extracted from the Barbados Advocate
With 2009 quickly drawing to a close, the agriculture ministry has announced it will be expanding several of its programmes to push this vital sector in the new year.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Haynesley Benn said that several areas would be improved to drive more locally produced goods in the market and to encourage young people to get more involved.
Speaking on the vendors’ markets, which came on-stream earlier this year and became extremely popular, he told the public to expect more of these in the upcoming year.
“I have seen Barbadians flocking to the vendors markets. These markets play a vital role in finding outlets for people with more and more of them getting on board,” he stated, adding, “This year we want to expand on the vendors’ markets and take them across the country, getting young people who grow food and who add value to the foods with the jams and the jellies and the chutneys and the wines and all the other things, come maybe on a quarterly basis and set up a tent around the countries and give people an opportunity to see how things are really done in Barbados.”
Benn further outlined plans to upgrade currently existing programs, saying, “Areas in which we are strong we would seek to make stronger while those which are weak we would seek to strengthen.”
In addition, he said that he would be meeting with several of institutions and organizations involved in agriculture in order to discuss the steps necessary to take the sector forward and therefore to help increase the country’s food security.
“I want to meet with the farmers’ organizations, I want to meet with the processors like Pine Hill Dairy and others to speak on the way forward,” he stated.
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