Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Agriculture recently hosted a financial literacy and insurance workshop aimed at helping farmers gain wider knowledge to safeguard their livelihoods from natural disasters and hazards.
In light of the risks posed by Climate Change to the agricultural sector, personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development organized a training programme on financial literacy and micro insurance as part of the Building Effective Resilience Project.
According to a ministry of agriculture spokesperson, this collaborative initiative with the International Labour Union (ILO) provided comprehensive knowledge on financial planning, budgeting and risk assessment and micro insurance benefits to enable farmers to make in-form decisions and safeguard their livelihoods
An international external consultant who facilitated the session was pleased with the outcome of the workshop, which highlighted the importance of farmers being more knowledgeable on financial management and insurance practices.
“We saw that the Ministry of Agriculture is really poised to help bring development within the agricultural sector in this country,” the official explained. “And piggy-backing on the disasters that has happened over the years and recently with Tropical Storm Bret, we saw the need to really come in and build the capacity of the farmers and we felt that it was important that the training be tailored to meet their needs (and) to boost the agricultural sector within this country and the region.”
Director of Agricultural Services Dr Auria King-Cenac emphasized the significance of the initiative, while recognizing the repeated and devastating consequences farmers have faced due to climate change.
Dr. King-Cenac noted that by equipping the farmers with financial literacy skills and promoting micro insurance the ministry aims to enhance the capacity to withstand adversity and foster a resilient agricultural sector.
“When we speak of food security, we are not only focusing on production. We need to focus on the holistic component of it,” she said. “We need to look at how we could develop our farmers not only producing bananas, but develop them so that they could sustain themselves and this opportunity will give them the tools that they need to be able to save …and to manage their finances, so when they do get into a situation they will be able to sustain themselves a little better.”
The ministry official said the initiative is timely, and especially coming after the impacts of Hurricane Bret “it will help them plan for the future so in the event of any disasters, they will be able to manage.”
In the meantime, the agriculture department remains steadfast with its goal of building a more climate resilient and sustainable agriculture sector through the implementation of mitigation strategies and the facilitation of access to resources and technologies.