 Welcome to the program, Agriculture on the Move. Of course I am Philip Sidney, your host. Today is a special day, it's also our last program for the year 2022 and we must end with a bang. And with me is the Honourable Alfred Prospe, the Minister responsible for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development. Welcome to the program, Mr Prospe. Thank you very much. Yes, man, I know you have taken time off, I'm happy to see you here. And I know you are omnipresent for the public to tell them your achievements for, you know, I can call it your first year. Full year in office. Your full year in office. Okay, I know you have had a few trips overseas representing Saint Lucia and the government. You want to give us an idea of what your trips are all about? Well, last one, and let me say it's a pleasure to be participating in this interview today. It is going to be my last interview for the year, as you mentioned. And I think it is timely because we have had a number of challenges in the agricultural sector. And even recently, we experienced the, you know, heavy rains that impacted the production and the yield of the farmers and in terms of crop production. And we also had the trough where a number of farmers in the northern part of the island and in region, I think, Bexon were impacted. In region one and two. Region one and two, yes, and as well as Bexon. So we had some challenges and I'm very happy to be able to, you know, have a discussion in terms of agriculture and where we are, where we want to go in the coming year. I attended the recent meeting last week in Montreal. It is called the 15th Conference of Parties for the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. I'm sure you heard that thing, Biological Diversity. All the plants and animals and the insects and everything together and living together in harmony with nature. But what is happening is that those conferences have been called every two years. And I had the opportunity to participate and to really participate in the discussion and to really get an opportunity to hear what are some of the global issues that conference us in small island states, especially with regards to our biodiversity. We know small island states like us, we are very vulnerable to climate change, but we also have a rich biodiversity. Our ecosystems are very, very, very diverse, but our biodiversity, the loss is a cause for concern. And we as small island states, we must ensure that we put measures in place to address our biodiversity. Because you have to think of nature. Our biodiversity is really about living in harmony with nature. But we see climate change, human activities and destroying our biodiversity in a big way. And so the conference brought together almost 200 parties to really discuss what we're doing, what is an approach, an appropriate strategy to be able to address those problems. And one of the things that came up was what we call the Global Biodiversity Framework. And it's a strategy or a plan of action that each country is supposed to be developed, established in its own country, looking at the issues of biodiversity, how we can address them, what are the needs, what is required to address it. And that brought us to the vexing issue of access to funding, because you need funding to be able to put policies, measures in place to be able to address the problems head on. And one of the things that came out of the meeting was, yes, the developed countries are always pledging financial support. Just at the meeting there was an announcement by Canada of almost $200 million for biodiversity conservation. But the problem has been easy access to it and how quickly it can get to those countries who needs it. So it was a very good meeting. I had the opportunity to make a national statement to the meeting. I also had an opportunity to make a statement on what we call a seeds coalition, where St. Lucia and other countries in the Caribbean as well as other countries in Asia, I think the other annexes are coming together to bring all those small island states together to address the issue of biodiversity. Small island states like St. Lucia can easily be destroyed if we do not put measures in place to protect our biodiversity. Climate change impacts, natural disasters and all of those natural phenomena affecting our biodiversity is a cause for concern. And I was really happy to represent St. Lucia that meeting. Very good, very good, very good. Moving forward, I know from the time you came in, one of your mantra is the food and nutrition security. And everything surrounding the various units and various components addresses that, because we need to feed ourselves, especially now. Bearing in mind we fall the climate change and disasters around. So pattern parcel of what we're talking about was a seven crop program that was initiated some three years ago. And now it is in the second phase. Tell us about it in terms of the whole embodiment of food security. Well, that is a very good question. From very early when I came in, you know, the issue of food security was a very, very, very serious issue. And it's not just a local problem, it has become a global problem. And there are a number of other challenges that have made it even worse. The issue of the war in Ukraine has seen an increase in the freight and shipping cost. And that has been a result of our farmers now having to pay more for fertilized and other inputs. But at the same time we expect them to produce at the same levels that they were expected to produce. Natural disasters continue to be a serious problem, a serious concern to us. Just recently we had the choff in the northern part of the island. A lot of our farmers were affected. The total cost in terms of estimate was 1.2 million EC dollars. And so that is a concern for us in terms of, you know, achieving our food security, you know, issue. We also had a number of farmers, island-wide, impacted by the consistent heavy rain that we experienced between September and November. And so those farmers now, they suffered tremendous loss because, you know, you did the side prep, you invested in your production, but at the end of the day you could not have harvested. We still have the issue of marketing board. And I'm hoping that our farmers can be relieved this week because some advancement has been made for marketing board to get a small sum of money to be able to pay the farmers we've been owing for a number of months. I'm hoping that our farmers will be able to continue building that level of confidence and trust in the marketing board. Because the marketing board is an entity that is supposed to be assisting the farmers in terms of the marketing of the produce and having an entity that is unable to pay for, you know, the purchase from the farmers and so on. It is really a problem and I'm hoping that this will be a thing of the past in the coming year. But the seven crops, I had a meeting just two weeks ago and we had to evaluate what has happened since the second phase of the program was launched in January. And whilst we had done quite a bit of good work, but I believe I was not too sure that we were actually placing enough attention and focus on increasing our food production, all with the aim of reducing our food import bill. And I believe that our farmers deserve to be part of this industry and be able to make a profit from it. I believe there is a lot they have been doing in terms of producing, but I also believe they are not being given that kind of assistance that is needed to really encourage them to produce more. And so at the meeting recently with the team, we have decided to start in New Year with 50,000 seedlings ranging from tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, et cetera, which is part of the seven crops, to be able to assist the farmers in increasing production. Too often we are hearing the high food imports, but the seven crops program should at this point be working towards achieving a target that would allow us to be able to make a dent in the reduction in terms of the 25% by 2025. I am hoping that in the dry season when a lot of our production is usually low because most of our farmers are on the slopes and rainfall will not be the same as it was recently, irrigation water would be a problem. I am hoping that we can increase our food production and then we can make this seven crops program more beneficial, more impactful on the ground. We do not want to just hate the seven crops program, we want to see the farmers benefiting, we want to see that on the ground we have the crops that we are importing and so we can reduce on it because at the end of the day we must be able to feed ourselves. I am not happy with the high food import bill that we have and we must make every effort to reduce it as quickly as possible. Definitely, and there are two things I would like to bring to the fore. One, I know we have a number of shade houses, I do not call them green houses, I call them shade houses, but I do not think there are so many of them in operation. That is another thing I believe that should be looked at because I think some of the farmers have many challenges out there with the covering of those green shade houses. So I think that will help because the more green houses or more shade houses that are in operation, it will help to increase our production. The next thing I think you also mentioned was under the same program you were able to give some reprieve as far as the cost of fertilizer. Tell us about this. Yes, now the green house, what do you call it? The shade house. The shade house. It is really supposed to be an alternative to the farmers in terms of heavy rain. Exactly. But we have an issue from what I am, when I speak to the farmers in that the shade houses or what you call the green houses, they are saying that the roof is too low. So they are saying that it is supposed to be higher because the impact of the heat and so on is affecting the crops. And I was very surprised learning of that recently. So they are saying that they have to make it a lot higher. And so in that case the yield will be a lot more, the production will be a lot more. But I want our farmers to understand that yes, the rainy season is the time when you have to increase your production because the water scarcity is not a problem during that time. But we also have to understand the intensity of the rainfall and the consistent high intensity rainfall will definitely impact your crops like your cocoa beans, your cooking boards, your pumpkins, your watermelons, your cantaloupes. And so we need to have alternatives in place so we can make more use, better use, or more effective use of the greenhouses during the rainy season. Unfortunately, I always say that it is a problem that we do not have agricultural insurance. And so all the farmers who affected, they had no means of getting some returns or some form of compensation that would encourage them to go back into production quickly. But we know our farmers are very serious farmers and they are always very well known at putting the past behind them and move forward. But it is something that the ministry has to look at in terms of how we assist any farmers with that. But the good news is that I had a discussion with the Mexican ambassador and in the coming year we are hoping that we can work together to provide more training to our young people in terms of greenhouse agriculture. And he has also made a pledge that the government of Mexico will also be assisting those young persons after they've trained to get greenhouses where they can go into the production and so on. But it's a serious problem. We know the type of agricultural practices. It's seasonal. You have green-fed agriculture and you have the other form of agriculture which is deutrises and when a lot of our farmers suffer because of irrigation water. And I continue to make the point that we farmers, I'm a farmer as well, must begin to think differently. The way we were doing things in the past cannot be the same. We must change because we didn't know of climate change. We didn't know of the war in Ukraine that was going to impact us. We didn't have an issue of food security. You know now we have a problem right here in Nicaragua and movements are overproduced from country to country. And so we have to be able to deal with all those issues and to really make this agricultural sector a lot better than it was. But our farmers must be thinking differently, making your cost of production a lot lower by adopting to innovate more innovative ways in agriculture, more climate-smart agriculture. That is the only way we're going to be food secure. And that is the only way we will see a country continue to produce for its own and reducing the imports of our food. Well said, but we do for our break. That was fast. You're watching Agricultural Move. Stay tuned. We'll be back very soon. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development is placing heavy emphasis on the concept of food security. It's our prosperity, our future. The Ministry facilitates the development and promotion of sustainable agriculture and food chain systems, the provision of affordable supplies of safe, high-quality nutritious food and efficient services. One of its support programs is in the field of banana production, including the establishment of the Black Cicotoker Management Unit, sales and distribution of fungicides and oil at subsidized cost, technical and extension support and market access facilitation. For further information, contact the project coordinator at 725-0444. Welcome back to the program, Agriculture on the Move, of course, with me is Honourable Alfred Prospe, the Minister of Agriculture. Honourable Prospe, I know the Taiwanese have been involved and the Taiwanese keep assisting us in agriculture. And I'm so happy because, I mean, as far as resources are concerned, you know, country is scarce. And I know the Taiwanese have been involved with us for a number of years. They have funded the 7-Cop program. And in ensuring that the 7-Cop program fits in nicely to increased production, recently they gave some implements, some rotavators and some tillers to dig drains. Tell us a little more about this. And I want to really take you about this time to fund the Taiwanese government, fund the Taiwanese mission, the ambassador to Taiwan, for all the tremendous support they have given, not just to the government, but the Ministry of Agriculture over the years. And I know they will continue to, you know, assist the ministry in addressing a lot of the issues that, you know, that we face in the sector. And the small equipment that came in, I think it is eight of them that came in recently, it is because the Taiwanese have realized the need for us to mechanize and to change the way things are done. And in the coming year, we will be training some young men to operate those machines and we will be assisting the farmers in understanding the importance and effectiveness of those machines in terms of reducing the production costs. We have to move away from the original and old type sort of farming and, you know, ensuring that our farmers continue to generate and make a profit from agriculture. So in the coming weeks, we will be demonstrating to the farmers the effectiveness, you know, and efficiency of those equipment. And we are hoping that the farmers will not rely solely on those eight pieces of equipment that we have here now, whilst we will be making an effort to get more. But we want to encourage them to come together as a group and find a way to procure those pieces of equipment so they will be easily available to them and not have to depend on the ministry for just eight of them. I am hoping that is a start and we can increase the quantities or numbers of those pieces of equipment and that would help in really pushing the seven crops and making it more effective in terms of reduction of our food import bill. That is a start and we, the farmers, I'm sure can recall, just recently we had the input sale where we were selling the fertilizer, the peat moss and ground cover at a subsidized price to the farmers because we understand their concerns, we understand their problems. Our banana farmers received a 40% subsidy on fertilizer and that went to all banana farmers. You know, we also got 4,000 pounds of fertilizer from the Moroccan government, which was distributed to our farmers. So we understand the problems and we are making an effort considering the constraints faced by our government, our government, which is about putting people first and we know our farmers will always come first. So the support is just the beginning of more to come, but again it is a challenge when you have to get the resources, financial resources that will not be available at the time. I'm just asking my farmers, our farmers, as time goes by, whatever becomes available, we will reach out to them as much as possible. But moving quickly, I want to go straight into the town. Let's give him more again. Yes, it's a good thing you reminded me. Just yesterday the town made a big contribution to the military agriculture. Well, the government of St. Louis benefited quite a bit. We got $1.4 million for our cocoa project. We are looking forward to produce a million cocoa trees because we want to really rehabilitate the whole cocoa sector because we have a market in waiting and we really cannot meet the demand. So I really want to encourage a lot of the farmers who probably abandoned the cocoa fields and figure out there was nothing to benefit from it. You know, get ready, rehabilitate it, go into new production and we are going to make that happen on the cocoa project. The fisheries facilities in Denver and in other parts of the country, we are seeing a rapid deterioration of those facilities. We got $1.1 million from the Taiwanese for, you know, assistance in rehabilitating those facilities. Another $50,000 came in for school gardens. The Hornian and Simo sub-sector received a sum of $304,000. And we got, for boys to men, more $100,000. That's almost $3 million that the Taiwanese gave to the ministry. We are hoping that we can really make good use of these funds and the whole sector will be impacted. Great, you know, as a result of this fund, you know. Moving quickly, let's go into the agro-processing. Because that's, trust me, that's the way we are going. You will see, as part of the whole food security program, the agro-processing seems to be getting momentum. And I know you are happy about this. We have done so much this year. So can you tell us a little more? The agro-processing sub-sector is really, really close to my heart. From the time we had the Banana Festival, it went, we had the Banana Festival, we had the... Mango. Mango Festival and we had the Simo Festival. It really afforded me an opportunity to see some of the products that can be made out of our local commodities, our local produce. But a lot of times when you speak to them, they are operating from their homes. They are operating outside of the normal, you know, areas that people would have access to those persons. We have to look at how we can brand those people, help them in terms of certification, help them in terms of promotion. Correct. And my vision for the agro-processing sub-sector. And I was just speaking to the Taiwanese ambassador a short while ago. And I was saying, I really wish one day we would be able to find a venue, a location where we can bring in all those persons on the one umbrella. So when our tourists, our locals, want to get something local, they know where to go and they can walk in there and really get it. I believe that there is tremendous potential for value added and even exporting our products to countries in the Caribbean, to other countries in the world. Because all of what I have been seeing when we have those festivals is a clear demonstration that there is a lot that can be produced from the fruits and from all of the various things that we have in St. Lucia. Definitely. Why not take advantage of it and really push that sector. Exactly. To really boost our food security and to ensure that our processors continue to survive. In fact, the PM made it clear in the house recently concerning the cassava flour. Cassava flour. Okay. And you have the plantain flour. And then we just had recently opened a new facility in Aje. In Aje, yes. And then we have cassava mash and cassava flour. So again, that's another substitute. Yes. And so much that can be done out of cocoa. Just recently I was told some of the persons who are involved in the cocoa farm sub-sector in terms of aqua-processing could not find the raw material here and they had to be importing it. So this is what I referred to earlier. When I mentioned the cocoa project, we can tile up that and really help in terms of transforming that whole sector and making our country. In fact, hopefully next year, the three areas we would really want to target, the coconut festival, the cocoa festival, and the cassava festival in a big, big, big, big way because we need to get the people out there. Because I keep saying again, government cannot employ everybody. Everybody. But what I have seen the potential for this sub-sector is tremendous. I believe that in the coming years we will see a massive transformation of that sub-sector. Definitely. The livestock sector quickly. I know we are gaining momentum moving to wallet. Come next year and I think it's timely because we are gaining food security. We need to feed ourselves. So we need to look at our pork industry, the whole works. So where are we with wallet? We are doing well with wallet. As a matter of fact, in the next few weeks we will be commencing the construction of the additional office building. We are also going to be commencing work on the road. Currently we are actually doing a major cleanup of the area because it has been in a state of abandon and you have a lot of vegetation growing. We also expected to commence the other projects like the small remnant spend. And so we have six major projects that we are hoping that we can complete before the end of next year. And we are hoping that early in the next year we can also begin our breeding program and really boost that livestock sector. I am also very concerned about the meat processing facilities that has been sitting there unattended to for many years. I am hoping that livestock sector can really boost our production. And we can see a commissioning of the meat processing facility which will go well for our livestock farmers. I was very happy that we were able to have Cabinet approve the Fisheries Policy. The Fisheries Policy is very, very important because I am sure now you are hearing about the blue economy. And there is an opportunity for funding for St. Lucia but without the Fisheries Policy it would have been a little challenging for us to access the funding. I am hoping that the policy will change the way things are done in terms of securing our marine space in terms of our sustainable fishing and giving the benefits that our fishers deserve. I am really, really happy that the Cabinet of Ministers saw the importance of it and were able to have the Fisheries Policy approve at the Cabinet level. And I am very happy because I hope that it can really transform the whole fishing sector in St. Lucia. As we are about to end the program I know you would have a lot to say about staff assistance and contributing for the success of those programs and projects in the ministry. Yes, I am very happy and I must say this year has been a pleasure working in the ministry. I can see a commitment by the staff of the ministry. I know there are certain challenges likewise in all ministry but I really want to say a big thank you to the staff for all of what we have done together as a ministry in terms of the commitment the level of interest, the performance. There are still some issues that I mentioned but I am hoping that we can build on where we are and get better and better and really work and strive towards achieving our targets for the end of the financial year. I must say, in closing, that it was very sad when I heard of the death of a farmer friend a man who has been producing and has been contributing so much to the agricultural sector but unfortunately his life was lost as a result of whatever the incident was. Mr. Casto Cox. I really want to extend my sympathy from the ministry to his family his friends and other farmers like him and I am hoping that this is something that will not happen again because somebody works as a right to earn what he works for. But I want to wish my ministry, my constituency, cabinet of ministers a very merry Christmas and a happy new year and look forward to working together and continuing the good work that the ministry has been doing over the years. Definitely and I also want to say from this program I really want to thank the farmers out there that we have been reaching out to the fishers, the agro processors the farming groups the livestock groups livestock officers especially the officers in the ministry the PS yourself the DPS the heads of divisions who have really assisted this program to what is to be and we really want to continue to really thank them I also want to thank my event committee who are working so hard all the events you see happening the mango festivals they have been on board and they have worked tirelessly to ensure that it happened I want to thank the staff of NTN the PI especially Geraldine Ticabao because let me tell you without them we will not have had this program and of course the technicians I must say thank you again our technicians Zari they have done exceedingly well and of course Anissia our information officer she has done very very very well in ensuring that we are where we are today I just want to say to prefer Wincox and Nanslim Cox two brothers they are not well and Nanslim is working for us I want to say I wish him a speedy recovery in that regard and Anita James Condolences to farm Nanslim so thank you again let me just say a big thank you to my PS without my yes and my DPS my secretary all the departments and those who are in the field in the forest and the security guards every one of you thank you sir, thank you for being here and your family for this year I also want to remember Mandefe Club get well quickly get back to work I am Philippe Sidney say goodbye and have a merry merry Christmas goodbye