 Good day everyone, and welcome to the program, Agriculture on the Move. My name is Philip Sidney, your host. We are still in the new year, the year is very young, we are still in January, so let me see a prosperous new year on the productive one to the farmers, the fishers, the agro-processors, of course the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and everyone in that chain, prosperous 2023. With me today is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development, Mr. Barry Moffillicier, and of course, welcome to the program. Thank you, Mr. Sidney, and let me say warm greetings to everyone, a prosperous and healthy new year to everyone out there. Mr. Piers, you have been in this dynamic ministry for about six years, I think, or more. November 2018. November 2018, and you came into the hot seat. The ministry is a very dynamic ministry, of course, I'm sure you know that by now. I know you have had many challenges, you came in in a challenging period, of course with the movement of the Bosigitou Forlet and so many other things, and of course you were so challenged, of course, with COVID in between. So give us a second period, where in terms of getting the ministry on a steady program. When I came in November 2018, one of my immediate challenges was that I was new to the ministry, obviously. The Deputy Permanent Secretary, Mr. Agastin Karret was also living, so I had a DPS who was relatively new as well. So that in itself, taking the leadership of our ministry with two persons relatively new, that was challenging. However, we succeeded in terms of the other challenges, and that is, you mentioned the move to Volet. We were under pressure as a ministry to move the Bosigitou facility to Volet, which was not ready. So we had an intermediary move. We moved to Sir Arthur Lewis Farm to allow for the DSH development and the first ever horse race, and that took place on December 13, 2019. If I remember correctly, the second race took place on December, sorry, February 14, 2020. So these were the things there. So we had to move quickly, breaking down everything, moving the staff, finding a place for the staff of scaling Sir Arthur, putting in the pens, putting in the infrastructure, making sure the staff gets transport, and everything is all right. So we had to quickly move in a matter of months. Between September to October, we had completely uprooted from Bosigitou agricultural station to Sir Arthur Lewis Farm. So that was one immediate challenge that we had to deal with. The other one was the outstanding payments for the mid-processing facility. Even though the mid-processing facility was not commissioned, we had brought in a company called GDM Lindex, and that was in 2015. These payments had to be made. They were outstanding. We had contractors who worked on the Azure facility from 2010, and those persons were not paid. So we had to deal with all of that. Then in December, 2018, when I come, the usual thing happens with the San Lucia Fish Marketing Corporation and the San Lucia Marketing Board. They come to the government as a new permanent secretary. They came requesting approximately $900,000 to pay farmers, to buy fish, to buy produce so that they could see the returns for the Christmas season. So immediately we had to get the monies for those persons to do those things. In 2019, the government also decided that some restructuring should take place of the San Lucia Marketing Board, and they wanted to see the privatization of the San Lucia Fish Marketing Corporation. So we had to make the arrangements for the solution of the San Lucia Fish Marketing Corporation, the payment of the staff, bringing in a new entity that we know as Lucia Blue Ocean, and you can imagine the complexities of those things. We had to go through the dockets, we had to put inventories together, and we had to do all the things that were required for us to legally allow that company to take over the facilities in Castries, January, and Vuford. In terms of the San Lucia Marketing Board, we had a report by Dr. Scott with recommendations, and we put in a board. We wanted them to start implementing some of those restructuring recommendations. So these were some of the almost immediate challenges, and to me at the time they were almost insurmountable, but somehow we managed to overcome, we managed to deal with them, and the ministry is in a much better place now. And then of course, we forgot COVID. COVID. COVID came in, two years of COVID for agriculture. At the end of the tunnel, there was that wonderful light, but when COVID started, it was an absolute nightmare. We had no staff. At some times it was just myself, the minister, maybe the DPS, in an entire ministry. And to recover from COVID, you need persons to be at work. Yes, correct. You need hands on deck. So the challenges for us were getting the farmers back into the field, getting the passes, allowing them to go and water their plants, water their animals, gain access to markets. We had to give them the crosses. I don't know if you remember the 759, facilitating all of those things, allowing the fishers to move from four o'clock in the morning to go fishing and come back returning for catch, disposing of the catch. So there were some administrative hurdles that we had to put in place, some protocols we had to put in place with marine police, with the traffic unit, with everybody and keeping in line and in sync all the time with the COVID protocols. So leading during that time, it was challenging, but having led during that time, I think that the management is much better for it now. The light coming out of that is that we saw a renewed vigor and focus on appreciation for agriculture after COVID, because everybody now spoke about food security. Yes, we have to eat. And I think the nation got scared at that time. During COVID, we had to conduct two or three, what I would say is our food audits, see how much food we have on the ground, what the food availability is like on the ground and we conducted those successfully, we reported to the cabinet and during most times we tell them we would have about three or four months on ground, the ability to feed ourselves during that time. In terms of crop production, and you know that we will sell sufficient in eggs. So we provided a cabinet with a list of inventory of what we had at the time and two or three occasions to satisfy the need and to ensure that we were on the right footing. Great. So that really gave us a foundation as to where we are today. In other words, our year end review, I mean it's just a snippet of what we did, but we did quite a lot after COVID and it resonated, we can actually see it. So let us look at the wallet, why we have a wallet now quickly. So just let me say that the year end review, people can always view it on our website. But 2022 was a year of mixed blessings for agriculture and I'll tell you why Mr. Sidney. The year started where we put in for $3.5 million a floating jet in Miku in less than three weeks. That was gone, eh? We had to take it out. Yes, yes. A timber jetty for Miku and looking for the designs from infrastructure and the costings. We also restarted the trade in bananas. We sent the shipment back, we started trading in me and then we had to stop in September because the demand was low and quality issues. Mixed blessings. Yes, yes. Right? So we did not have a very unfortunate circumstance as it relates to the weather in terms of hurricanes except but on November 6th we had that trough. Unnormally, right? So we got money in the tune of about allocation $7 million for many projects but the allocations could not be released because of the source of funding. So we got money for projects like Koko, projects like the upgrade to fisheries infrastructure, boys to men but it could not be released. So it was a year of mixed blessings where we got some things, we got them but we could not utilize them or when we utilized them it turned out that we had to go back to the drawing board. Yes. So we had many achievements for 2022. The year in review will reveal that but I call it, I look at it as a year of mixed blessings. Okay but volet, where we are briefly? In terms of volet, to date we spent about $6.5 million on volet. We have put in place the warehouse, the stockman shed, the watchman facilities, the small room in unspends, the administrative building. We have done the fencing. We have done the link road. We have done the pig pens. We have done all of that. Okay. So we are well on our way to move the animals from Soapha Lewis to... So we have, in this year, we have been able to work on the extension of the admin building and some road infrastructure as well. We are just also in the process of fencing paddocks. We want to build out some compost sheds this year before the year closes off. So we are almost in the process of moving to volet. We have electricity. We have internet. We are now testing the water pumps. So once these are okay, we are in a position to move from Soapha into volet. So we essentially looking at moving to volet within the next two to three weeks. Very good. So the program. I know the Taiwanese, of course, another collaborator agency have done so much for us in the ministry to St. Lucia. They are on the second phase. Where are we? In terms of the second phase, there was a renewed focus. The focus changed. In the first phase, we were looking at reducing the food import bill. In the second phase, the Taiwanese adopted a posture where they wanted to look at local production, expand the seven crops and add additional 15 or so crops. What we realized is that this focus or perspective would not be down to the benefit of reducing the food import bill. So we had to go back and redesign that project. What we had to do is go back and say we need to monitor the targets against what has been said by CARICOM, the 25 by 25 initiative that we are part of. The OECS as a sub-region also with the fast strategy, the food and agriculture systems transformation strategy contributes to that. So at the national level, we have indicated that there are three projects of three areas that would contribute to the 25 by 25, reaching 25%, a reduction in our food import bill by 2025, and that is one would be the seven crops project. Two would be the volat livestock station through the livestock development master plan and the targets in there and also NADAF in terms of helping, in terms of research, quarantine and SPS challenges. So these are the areas we highlighted when we said the targets based on that. So in keeping with that, we have remodeled the seven crops project and now we're seeing seedling production being reintroduced. We have components dealing with irrigation, sales of irrigation supplies, subsidization, input supplies, we have also introduced mechanization and there was a recent ceremony yesterday showing about napsack sprayers and diggers and augers and the like. And there was, there was recently there was also the eight tillers. Yes, the eight tillers. Well, the four tillers and four diggers, four diggers. So yes, so we want to really introduce the technology and make, reduce the labor cost, reduce the time on task and make it easier for everybody. Definitely, definitely. Yeah, we have, we have to do that. But NADAF, tell us about NADAF because people, which is a National Agriculture Diagnosis Facility. Give us a breakdown on that. What, what, what's the objective of NADAF? NADAF is a two-story building at Union near infrastructure. The, the, the first story houses our offices for the vet services, the plant research services, engineering personnel and to some extent the bureau standards, St. Lucia bureau standards. We have laboratories on the ground floor. We have the, the plant laboratories, animal laboratories, the food, food and nutrition laboratories and the bureau has a metrology lab in there as well. So the, the focus of these labs is to offer services to our clients, fishers, farmers, in terms of research on pest diseases, in terms of that. Soil. Soil profiles, soil samples, soil analysis, food, food analyzer analysis. Feed analysis. Feed analysis, all of that, the nutrition in feed. We want to see, so if the feed is bad, we want to be able to see what, what is wrong with it. What's missing, what's missing. Yeah, so we want to do all of these things. And if you have the food lab, in terms of testing your agro-processing, your chocolates, your honey, so testing your products, saying what, what is in there, assisting with producing your labels, what is in there and, and the like. So these are the things that the lab will be able to do for us. If you have an animal and you do not know what is the cause of death, it's strange. We are now almost completing the construction of the post-mortem building. Where you'll be able to bring in that animal. We'll be able to put in the post-mortem unit and tell you what the causes are. And if it is a disease that warrants our intervention in the top of the spread, then the other sections of the ministry will spring into action. Great. So these are the things that matter. We're hoping that this facility becomes the premier facility in the region that we outshine some of the labs that have been already established and we offer the services at a price that is comparable or better than what is on the market. Yes, and that's not good for you, right? Yes. So you're complaining about the soil test results over the years, looking at acidity, soil pH, the whole thing. So I'm happy now that that will be... We have the equipment now to perform most of those things. We're missing the reagents, but the critical component that is also missing is the skill sets. There is a depth of scientific pursuits in St. Lucia to feel the positions that we have. We have what, nematologists and all the fancy scientific pursuits that you need. But hopefully that will be done. The positions have been filled in too slowly. We've had funding for positions for about two years now and we're slowly feeling like those positions. So you find the chemical analysts and all of these positions slowly being filled. It's not been filled at a rate where we are comfortable that we like to have full operations of the lab. We do for our foods a break, or well, our only break. You're watching agriculture and the move, stay tuned. We do for our break, but stay tuned. 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 Cocoa Sector Enhancement Project, CSEP is targeting the rehabilitation of at least 201 acres of cocoa and the expansion of at least 294 acres. It protects against main diseases like blackboard and witch's broom and pests like rodents. It secures the appropriate enabling environment to advance the sector. To learn more about the Cocoa Sector Enhancement Project, please contact Project Coordinator at 459-7003. Welcome back to the program, Agriculture and the Move. And of course with me is the opponent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development, Mr. Barry Moffelice. Mr. Moffelice, right now we are on that mood of our food and security, food and nutrition security strategy. Everything that we do now is under that umbrella. We have done a lot in the past, maybe last year, when it came to our, the persons involved in small cottage industry, right, looking, assisting them moving forward. We had a number of festivals. We have had the mango, the banana, and also the Seamos Festival. Moving forward, what are we doing after all of those festivals? Well, we want to take a comprehensive approach, look at the agro-processing and value added as a whole. So we started looking at facilities and you would recall that we added the women's facility in Barbano. Correct. And now, last year we engaged Milfle in the leasing of the Lakai facility. So we really want to see them take up that opportunity. Tomorrow there is a talk to Lakai where we will be walking through with Milfle, seeing what is required, see how we can assist them in actually letting that facility be open and be run. So we want to do that. We want to make sure that these assets are fully utilized. For us, we also want to take a look at the big facilities for us and see how that can be rejuvenated. We started what is required to look at it. It is an asset that is idle. It has been idle since the onset of COVID. And we want to make sure that it is utilized. Beyond that, we've given assistance to the Seamos farmers, both in Opica and Puale. Seavensby. Yes, Seavensby. The Opica, Seamos and Group in Seavensby and Puale, assisting them in terms of building capacity. In Puale, we would notice that there is a move through export St. Lucia to remove all the plastic bottles there, to have better drying tables. And there was also assistance given in terms of the facility, the facility that process Seamos. So these are some of the interventions that are going on. Value added, again, is the way to go. We are too low in the chain, so we don't reap the benefits of it all. The primary product does not only give us marginal benefits. We have since then been going on a drive realized that the cost of electricity, the cost of electricity is very high. And to run those agro processing facilities, it takes a tool on your business, on your business margin. So we are trying to see, through government, through the budget process, to see if the solarization of those facilities will be funded and that will help us be more competitive. So these are some of the things moving forward that we want to see happening in agro processing. And we have also sought funds for the continuation of the festivals, in terms of cassava and coconuts. Cocoa and coconuts, yes. So that looking, hoping that will be approved and then we can roll out those festivals to show and showcase those products. What can be done with them? How can we add value? How can we increase their standard, their value, their appeal and ensure that in some way that we are able to even export those products and have niche markets for those products? Fisheries unit. Well, I'm hearing about this blue economy. Tell us about this, P.S. So we have a major project on the blue economy, it's called Unleashing the Blue Economy Project. St. Lucia stands to receive about 18 million under that project. We are in that project along with St. Vincent under Grenadines and Grenada and OECS provides some sort of coordination for all the three countries. Under the fisheries, the project also in the 18 million there are components for tourism, for fisheries and for waste management. So we stand to utilize about 3.4 million as part of the main components in that of policies, review and regulation, legislation review, upgrade to fisheries facilities and of course the cost insurance for fishers. But however, they have now triggered a new component under the emergency response area, the critical response window. So we have 10 million dollars that will be granted to the ministry of agriculture for us to support our ongoing programs. We are in the process of developing the project components and the project proposal concepts with the World Bank, so detailing the activities that can happen in keeping with the World Bank guidelines. We have 12 months to spend 10 million U.S. dollars. And we are supposed to start from February 2023. The ministry of finance is supposed to be the project implementation unit, and we are supposed to be the implementation agency feeding them with the invoices and taking on the work on the ground. So that is 10 million dollars. That's a hooky land task boy. To spend in one year in keeping the stickler is that in keeping with the World Bank guidelines which have not been relaxed. They have not been relaxed to allow us more time. So we have a year ahead of us, a year of implementation. The Shwasae fishing facility which has been a sore point over the years I have heard of the Japanese have come back to give some assistance. What's happening now? I wouldn't say the Japanese have come back. They have not really from since the event occurred in 20, in early 2000s, 2000 and one 2003 there about. They have been engaging us on ways at solving the problem, the sedimentation problem in Shwasae. There's been a renewed vigor over the last three years I would say three to four years where they have come in and they have looked at models, modeling. They have looked at designs and intermeasures to that. So they have come up with solutions or with a preferred solution in terms of building a first and second groin and of course a sand deposit area not too far from where the Shwasae shoreline is. So these are the things that they are doing. But that intervention will take about three years for the construction of those groins and those measures. But in the meantime they are conducting surveys. They have conducted last year one survey. They have done some dredging. They are about to comments on another survey this year and we just sent in to DC and the Ministry of Infrastructure the various approvals for dredging that area again in January. So pretty soon or if not the persons in Shwasae fishermen should see activity there where there will be removal of sand and deposition of sand not too far away from the Shwasae facility and of course they would see the persons from Jaika and the consultants Eko. Eko limited from Japan doing the work. So Eko is contracted for the Japanese government and is supposed to provide us with supervision of the work help us with the designs preparation of the building documents and oversee the building process. Well I am happy to hear that the Miku jetty is back on track yesterday I am hoping it will be a floating jetty as I mentioned earlier on. It's going to be more steady and I know my good friend Jeremiah will be happy to hear about that so I think that is Fetacopli. Well not Fetacopli. We still in the stage where we don't want what happened with the floating jetty at Miku to recoup. The dynamics in the Miku area the Miku bay it seems to have changed. So what the Ministry of Infrastructure is recommending is that we conduct the required public service to allow us to build a jetty that is suitable for the area. So they are now in the process of looking at what is required the designs and the costing and we make a submission to us and of course we make a submission to the Ministry of Finance for the funding of that. So that is where we are with that. But we also want to look to see whether or not there is utility in using the floating pieces the floating jetty in the country's harbor. Can it be used? It would be ashamed to have a 3.5 million dollar asset put in a container and left just to rot. So if it can be used and again the Japanese government has promised to assist in performing the requisite studies or paying for them or supporting them to allow us to see what it can be used in castries near Lushan Blue or Savans Bay where it is sufficiently enclosed so that there is no major disruption on the floating blocks. And where are we with Fisher's and Blue Ocean? Lushan Blue Ocean. So with Lushan Blue Ocean we had to take a pause to step back because the company seemed to have run into some financial difficulty. So the government is now considering to assisting Lushan Blue Ocean through a loan facility to help them with any outstanding debts so we're hoping all of that will come through. Lushan Blue Ocean will be in a position now to reopen its doors and to allow the purchasing of fish from our fishers. So that is where we are we are supporting the government is supporting Lushan Blue Ocean. We know that is the main entity for purchasing fish and we know that the fish season the high cat season is on its way. Great. And toward last will not least the vessel life-saving system or the vessel life-saving system we have been engaging digital over the last two years to help us bring to fruition the vessel life-saving system. Every year Mr Sidney you hear about one or two persons. Fishers who go sadly they go missing at sea the importance of that device is to help save life and property and that is a single priority that the Ministry of Agriculture by installation of this device it is real-time tracking if you are in trouble it is global tracking it means that if you are anywhere in the world and the device is active you can be found and rescued. GPS. You can be found and rescued which is what we want to do because when using any other means our Coast Guard, Martin Coast Guard and Vincent Coast Guard trying to find a needle in a history trying to find a needle in a history. That's a life-saving device. So we value the fishers' lives and I'm hoping that they value their lives and everybody will sign up for it and therefore we'll have a fleet of persons where if in the unfortunate circumstances that they go missing that we can have a high success rate in retrieving the fisher and the vessel. Thank you for being here and I'm wishing you success moving forward I know it's going to be again another dynamic here for you and us in the Ministry of Agriculture and staff but I know we have survived it and we will continue to do what we're supposed to do so thank you for being here. Thank you Mr. Sidney, I want to really thank my staff very much they've been very supportive they've been responsive but I think this year we need the year of implementation I call it I have a name for all years so now there is delivery Yes delivery and implementation so we want my staff to do their best, be committed work hard and I ask these stakeholders the fishers and farmers to engage us to work with us and continue to partner with us for the benefit of the agriculture sector. Thank you very much, you've been watching Agricultural Move, thank you very much viewing the program and continue to view it. Remember agriculture is our business it's fresh, so it's just the best. I'm Philip Sidney, goodbye. Agricultural Move