A two-year project undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture to provide training to sensitize farmers about climate change resilience will also look to prioritize women, youth and vulnerable groups.
According to government sources, farmers will be among the chief beneficiaries of a project geared towards Climate Change Adaptation. The BRAC VACs Project aims to build resilience among all agricultural stakeholders.
The project is designed to focus on areas in Saint Lucia, which are prone to flooding, drought and landslides.
BRAC is a leading nonprofit organisation with a mission to empower people in situations of poverty. VAC is an acronym formed from the three Vietnamese words Vuon (garden), Ao (fish pond), and Chuong (pigsty or poultry shed). It refers to a form of domestic agriculture in which food gardening, fish rearing and animal husbandry are wholly integrated.
At an estimated cost of USD$11 million, the project will establish Climate Change centres in several agricultural zones. The project targets 12,000 farmers and agro-processors.
Manager of the project, Dr. Donatien Gustave says the workers will be trained in ways to minimize the impact of climate hazards.
“This project hopes to build resilience among stakeholders, in particular, the institutions that you support through agriculture and rural development, but also and very importantly to personnel—the farmers and agro-processors. But it’s not only about building resilience it’s about facilitating growth in the sector” said Dr. Gustave.
The primary goal of the project is to increase the capacity of the country’s food security. Currently, the project is mobilizing agriculture workers to participate in training.
According to Dr. Gustave, the participants input is necessary for the project’s success.
“If the farmers do not get exposed to techniques and the technologies, they don’t have markets or some idea of how to do assessments of data to look at niches, to look at how to differentiate our products, how to add value,” he noted. “The way forward is difficult, remember we want to build growth …build resilience, and at the same time we want to empower the society on the whole, but in particular, the different actors who enable agriculture and rural development on the ground.”
The BRAC VACS project is tenured for two years. Priority will be given to women, vulnerable groups and the youth.
The project is being facilitated by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training.