Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, a long-standing advocate for Barbados to be self-sufficient by growing its own food, has been chosen by Government to head the soon to be created National Task Force on Agriculture Education.
Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Kay McConney, made the announcement as she too expressed the hope of having agriculture programmes in all schools across the island, as a means of encouraging healthy eating at an early age.
Speaking during the signing of a memorandum of understanding to officially formalise a partnership between the Barbados Community College (BCC) and Delaware State University (DSU) at the Jean and Norma Holder Hospitality Institute, yesterday, she said the task force is necessary and a part of Government’s strategic focus for the sector.
“This is important because of the role that agriculture is to play in our own food security and in our ability to feed ourselves…. What is significant is that education and agriculture cross many areas. For our friends who are here, more than 80 per cent of the deaths in Barbados are from non-communicable diseases.
And as we do better at growing our own food and improving the quality of what we consume, we are going to improve, from a health perspective, the fortunes of the people of this country,” she stated.
Ms. McConney also mentioned a push towards research and development in agriculture, while alluding to the recently launched Food Security and Entrepreneurship Programme in collaboration with The University of the West Indies at Dukes, St. Thomas, and the Hope Agricultural Training Institute.
“So, it is the research side, the entrepreneurship side, as well as the training side because we want to ensure that our partners and businesses reach capacity at all levels,” she said.
The Minister praised the partnership with DSU, adding that the current cohort of 60 students and others to be enrolled in programmes would help to change the mindset of how agriculture, food security, and water resources management is treated in the future.
Meanwhile, President of DSU, Dr. Tony Allen, pledged to expand the partnership with the BCC to expose more students to the academic programmes so that others would see “what it looks like when black people are standing up for other black people”.
Chairman of the BCC’s Board of Management, Dr. Allyson Leacock, said the partnership was an opportunity to share values, perspectives, and a new way of thinking to solving life’s complex problems, while BCC’s Principal, Annette Alleyne, said the partnership was a pathway to dealing with some of the challenges facing tertiary education.
Sixty students are currently pursuing studies in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, and Agriculture.