Public Relations Officer Oneta Phillips, presents a copy of the AWIA’s booklet to Minister of Agriculture, Sen. Haynesley Benn.
The first publication by the Association of Women in Agriculture (AWIA) has come in for much praise.
Minister of Agriculture, Senator Haynesley Benn, has hailed the text “A Practical Guide to Small Scale Plant Cultivation,” as a ‘must read’. Aimed at school children, 4-H members and lay persons, the manual encourages crop production and marketing.
During a brief presentation today at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Graeme Hall headquarters, in which he received a copy of the manual from Public Relations Officer of AWIA, farmer and author of the booklet, Oneta Phillips, the Minister said he was highly recommending the text to students.
“This booklet is so important especially at a time when we are expanding the 4-H movement, as we need to talk to the young people more about agriculture; we have to instill in their minds that it is a worthwhile occupation,” he stated.
Noting that the Ministry sponsored the first 1000 copies of the Journal, the Minister emphasised that this type of publication needed to be encouraged as it was a major tool for making Barbadians from “all walks of life aware of agriculture and the pivotal role it played in the development of this country”.
Senator Benn further added that he also plans to meet with the Minister with responsibility for Urban and Rural Development, Christopher Sinckler, in an attempt to get householders to develop their plots of land to produce more quantities of thyme, carrots, lime trees etc.
The AWIA was established in March 1999, and forms one of a series chapters throughout the Caribbean. The other chapters are located in Jamaica, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname.
These chapters are under the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers.