A number of Caribbean Agricultural Development and Research Institute (CARDI) representatives, regional journalists and other regional stakeholders in agriculture gathered today at the Grand Royal Antiguan Beach Resort to discuss issues affecting the region’s agriculture sector.
They also came together to look at ways in which the media, farmers and other agriculture related agencies and government departments could work together to better develop and expand the struggling sector.
Antigua’s Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and the Environment, Hilton Baptiste lashed out at the media, stating that they were not reporting enough on the issues farmers were facing in the region.
Identifying predial larceny as one of the major problems, Baptiste urged media practitioners to delve deeper into the issues affecting the farmers in each territory and continue to report on them until they were fixed.
In that regard, he also reprimanded his regional counterparts for talking too much and coming up with too many policies but delivering very little. One of the problems, he said was that “governments change too fast”.
“The technicians and government ministries in a country remain so work should not stop,” he said.
“Why is it that the work is not being done? Maybe the media need to investigate that,” said a passionate Baptiste.
The media sensitization workshop forms a part of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture. It is being held under the theme Celebrating Youth & Gender in Caribbean Agriculture – each Endeavouring, all Achieving.
Meanwhile, Samuel Mikenga, a representative of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) told participants that policymakers and politicians were guilty of having too many closed doors meetings where journalists were being left out of and not being given information for the public.
“We are here on a sensitization mission of the media in the Caribbean. We feel that for the media to be better engaged in agriculture and research process they need to know the challenges facing the Caribbean,” he said.
