 Agriculture on the move. Agriculture on the move. Agriculture on the move. Agriculture on the move. Good day, St. Lucia. Welcome to the program, Agriculture on the Move. My name is Philip Sidney, your host. If you are not aware, there are many, many programs and projects that are being implemented in the Ministry of Agriculture. And that is why we say this year is a production year for the Ministry of Agriculture. I'm sure those of you are aware that we have received or are distributing about three weeks ago 35,000 bags of fertilizer in PK to banana farmers, plantain farmers, and other crops farmers are producing. We also have the COCO project where as I said last year, and there are so many programs that are going on the agriculture, which you will hear in this medium throughout the year. We also have in the fisheries sector, you have the deployment of fads around the island in our waters. We also have the rehabilitation of fishing pots. Also the moorings and toilets. And the list goes on. We began in January. A lot of work has been done in January. All of this is in keeping with our food and nutrition security strategy, which is headed by our Honorable Alfred Prosper, the Minister with Responsibility for Agriculture here in St. Lucia. Forestry is doing its own share. And with me today is Mr. Alvin Donnelly, who is our Chief Forest Officer and I'd like to welcome him to the program. Welcome, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Sidney, and good afternoon to our listeners, you know, as well too. Definitely, definitely. Although a lot is happening, I know you have a lot of programs. I don't think all St. Lucia is aware of what's happening. I know you have a program called Desertification. You also have the land degradation fertility program. So for the knowledge of St. Lucia, tell us what is desertification? Okay, desertification is simply a condition in which the land becomes, and to put it in simple terms, the land is barren. So there are no trees. There are no plants. And the fertility, you know, of that land is no longer, you know, and it's in a state that trees won't grow. Nothing is growing. Sorry, nothing will grow, you know, on that land. And in the true sense of the word, you know, desert becoming a desert. So desertification really and truly, and it's a process, you know, that happens where the land at one time was, you know, productive, you know, fertile, but the resources they have been eroded and destroyed to the extent that that land no longer, you know, can support, you know, life. Are we at that stage here, St. Lucia, what is done to, I say, avoid this? Well, let me just go back a little bit, you know, just to give a little background. And no, St. Lucia is not in that state and we would not want to get there. But in 1997, St. Lucia signed on to that international agreement, what we call the UNCCD. Now UNCCD means United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. You know, so that convention came into being in 1994, and there were two other conventions, CBD, Convention on Biological Diversity, and UNFCCC, that's the Climate Change Convention. So these three conventions came into being that was in Rio, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, that's around 1994. So these three conventions are referred to as the Rio conventions, and they all three have requirements or articles, you know, that hinge, you know, on each other, that are interlinked. Now in 1997, St. Lucia signed on to the UNCCD, and the UNCCD is predominantly focused on land resources, managing land resources, preventing, trying to prevent, you know, land from becoming deserts or degraded, well degraded first of all, and the worst case scenario is becoming desert, you know. So the provisions of the UNCCD also is linked to what we will call the Sustainable Development Goals. In short, they call them SDGs, which came sometime afterwards. But one of the SDGs has to do with life on land and managing, you know, the resources of the land in a way that would sustain ecosystems, that would sustain, you know, the biodiversity, both the plants and the animals and all the organisms that exist, you know, also survive within the ecosystem. And also to avoid situations, you know, where those resources have been depleted and the land becoming, you know, degraded, you know, barren. So you have activities like deforestation, you know, that could be a major, a major cause for land, you know, becoming degraded. And a lot of, you know, the practices, you know, our human practices and most of which we would engage in, you know, to support, you know, our livelihoods. So you would have deforestation or loss of forest being, you know, taking place, you know, for development, you know, for agriculture. But you also do have the loss of forest that could be linked, you know, to climate change events. Some of these are the more indirect, you know, forms of, or ways in which, you know, the forest, you know, could be lost and eventually can lead to land degradation. So as you mentioned, land degradation, tell us exactly, you know, is there a program or is there a special parcel of the whole umbrella? So around 2016, there about the UNCCD, you know, embarked on a program that would seek to avoid, you know, land degradation or desertification. And it looked to, towards, let me see, it was the best to use in that sense, kind of neutralize the, you know, the, you know, the, you know, the, you know, the, you know, neutralize the, you know, conditions that would lead to degradation. So that program was instituted. And again, it's linked to that SDG, which I told you about Life on Land, that that program is called the Land Degradation Neutrality, you know, Program. So what it does is countries are given, you know, support to take certain actions that would, first of all, help them to identify potential, you know, areas that could, that's maybe already degrading or there's signs that those areas can go into degradation. So in 2018, St. Lucia, St. Lucia took on, you know, that initiative, which was started by 2016, in which, you know, other countries, over a hundred countries, you know, will give in support and financial support, you know, in most of the cases, to develop or to identify targets. So these targets are actually physical places, you know, within, you know, that whole land degradation neutrality program. So we had to identify those targets, physical places, you know, like places in St. Lucia where that's the forest, you know, has perhaps been depleted or is lost. There are some areas that used to have, you know, forests in the past and no longer are we seeing, you know, forest in those areas. Now we're not saying that these areas have become desert, no, but if we don't do anything, you know, or if we continue certain, you know, negative practices, then we can see. So there was this first phase of that land degradation neutrality, which we went into in terms of setting those targets. And last year, last year, last year, the UNCCD further upskilled that program into a phase two. So what essentially they were saying that, okay, now that, you know, you have set your targets and you have identified, you know, those areas that now we need to see that at least you are doing something more to be able to move, you know, that program, you know, forward. So last year, they were on a second phase. So they call it the land degradation neutrality target setting program, LDNTSP two. There was a call for proposals and expressions of interest from the UNCCD to the country parties to apply, you know, to be part of that second phase of the program, which is meant to upscale, you know, the first phase. And St. Lucia sent in a proposal and out of that effort, you know, only 18 countries, you know, around the world were selected. And St. Lucia was the only Caribbean country that was selected on that second phase, you know, of the program. So we, well, they did some capacity building as well to say that. So there was this meeting in Doha towards the third week in February, that was last month, in which the focal points, which would have been myself and also a consultant, you know, was hired by the UNCCD Secretariat in itself to support moving that second phase of the program, you know, together. So both the consultant and myself attended, you know, that meeting in Doha, So that on our return here now, we can essentially just run ahead, you know, with the program. Okay. Well, who let point you? Yes. We're about to run ahead with the second phase. You are watching agriculture on the move, stay tuned, don't go away. Bio means life. Biodiversity is a variety of life all around us, all plants, animals, and microbes, and the places where they live. We need to protect biodiversity so that we can continue to enjoy all the resources it provides. Fresh air, clean water, food, clothing, shelter, and recreation. Biosafety ensures that we protect biodiversity against any negative impacts of GMOs, while using it safely for national development. For more information on the Biosafety project and how you can be involved, call 451-8746 or 722-9252, log on to lc.biosafetycleringhouse.net, or join the mailing list, SLU Biosafety at govt.lc. Welcome back to the program, agriculture on the move. If you're joining us with me, Mr. Alvin Donnelly, who is the chief forest officer, and we're talking about desertification and land degradation here in St. Lucia. Okay, we spoke about the first phase, and based on your accomplishment of your first phase, St. Lucia was chosen to go into a second phase. But tell us a little more about your first phase. What did you all do, where on island did you all carry out the execution of that program? So, during the first phase, we would have, as I said, we would have had to identify, you know, our targets. So that was done using certain indicators. And you would have land cover being one of those indicators, I guess the depletion. Yes, the depletion of land cover. As well as looking at carbon stocks. When we talk about carbon stocks, we think of areas of forest that, in the life of the plants, that would utilize carbon dioxide, especially during transpiration of the cycles of the plant. They would use carbon dioxide and, you know, send it over into something, you know, that's positive, release oxygen. So the oxygen that we breathe in, a lot of that. But also to the plants would photostemphasize, which means they would use, you know, sunlight and... Production. Production, yeah. So they are like carbon sinks, you know. So they would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, you know, that is available in the air, which is not, which can be toxic to human life. Yes, so when they talk about, you know, the carbon stocks above and below ground, it's actually, it's all linked to, you know, the vegetation so that is, that you can find, you know, in, on the land. So there was one order, I don't remember right now, but yeah, there were about three indicators. But apart from the human element of land degradation, there's also climate change that would affect. Well, yes, climate change will affect. Will affect the land. Climate change will affect the resources. It will affect, you know, the biodiversity, generally, you know. Hurricanes, for example. And if you think of what happened in Dominica. Landslides and all the... Landslides. We had those very, you know, strong hurricanes, destroyed large sections, you know, of the natural forest. You know, so, and these are not events that we can prevent. Yes, yes, yes. But then, on the other hand, it's been suggested that some of our actions are causing conditions that have been created so that when those events come around, the more intensive water is stronger and they are causing more destruction, you know. But is it planting of a reforestation? Is it part and parcel of the first phase that you have where you planted trees in areas almost, not deserts, but forest depletion? Well, that would be also, you know, an aspect that we would bring into the whole program, you know. But I do see that, I mean, the forestry department has been about, you know, reforestation, our forestation, for as long as it sees me in existence, you know. And that activity remains, every current activity never stops. And hopefully, that if it comes to a point where it is stopped. Well, that's it. Well, my thinking is that everywhere would be on the forest, you know. And, but we cannot think of, yes, of that happening and for that reforestation, you know, to come to an end, you know, at any time. Where is that balance between livelihoods? We look at agriculture. Landless farmers, you know, wanting to farm in forest areas. How would you handle this? We, the most significant thing that you can do or the approach that you can use is to get people or the farmers, you know, to understand the value, the importance of the trees, of the forest, of having that resource, you know, in as much as you have to find a balance between subsistence because, I mean, we grew up on agriculture, you know. And that depended on, you know, clearing of the forest, you know, at some periods of time, you know, in large amounts. To be able to go into production and to sustain your family, sustain your livelihoods. But we have had and we have always advocated for practices that can be done, that could be effective, that could create some level of protection, you know, for the land, for the resource, as well as to be able to generate, you know, that kind of livelihood support. So, agroforestry, for example, you know, is one of those strategies or practices that we have used, you know, for a very long time. You have situations that even to create barriers there are certain species, you know, on your property that you could use, could help protect your farming crops from maybe strong winds. But you can also, when you plant those crops, they are trees, maybe fruit bearing trees, that you can also harvest crops from them. We have experimented with even things like cashew, cashew nut, working with extension. We have the mobi. We have utilized even the Latin year, you know, and looking at these as economic crops. Yes, and not necessarily to replace what you have already, but is to add an additional crop to what you may have. Under some of the projects that we have, we're looking at sustainable livelihoods and looking at things like vanilla, vanilla, even, you know, passion fruit crops that can survive on the- The ecological zone. The seeds, yes, those, that kind of microclimate. The second phase is about, now tell us exactly what's been done. So in the second phase of the, the alien, we are going to, we are going to upscale some of the meeting with stakeholders. So you see a number of consultations that we're having with various facets, you know, of the public. And we are going to, we are going to link that also with there is a regional project, you know, that some years ago, I think two or three years ago, we had an opening at Forestry. It's a project called the soil cake. Yes, yes, I remember that, I remember that, yes, yes. And that, that project, it's a regional project that's been implemented by the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management, PISLM. Now PISLM is the, it's like a body, a Caribbean body that is helping to implement UNCCD for Caricam countries. So it was set up by agreements among, you know, Caricam heads somewhere around 2000 and. So how long is the second phase? So yeah, that's what I'm coming to. Okay. The second phase is, we run for about a year, well, the consultancy period, but the link here with PISLM is, there's a component that is dealing with soils, mapping our soils, updating of, you know, information on the soils. The last really recognized soils map, I think that we had was from the 60s. So we look into update that under the soil cake, but also we can identify further areas that might be, that there might be a threat of degradation going into the land being degraded. And it is for us to be able to identify strategies or actions, things that we can do to avoid, you know, those lands, you know, actually going into degradation. So that requires us meeting with persons at various levels. And that's where the consultations come in. So you see us meeting with, there could be farmers or the land owners and speaking to them and seeing what kind of, what options maybe that we may come up with. Well, my comrades, I have a survey there. I will come to you at the end of the program already. Okay. So I want to really thank you for being here. And I wish you success with your second fees and of course, a mutual benefit of course, in the end of course and livelihoods for the farmers out there. So thank you again. You've been watching agriculture on the move. I want to thank you for viewing the program. And remember, of course, those of you who are not received fertilizers, please check with your extension offices in your region and they are more fertilizers to come. Another 40 bags of urea from Venezuela. I'm Philippe Sidney saying goodbye and I'll see you again. Yep. I recall you on the move. I recall a move, ma. I recall you on the move. I recall a move, ma. I recall you on the move. I recall a move, ma. I recall a move, ma.