The country is being represented by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Timothy Harris. The global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change is taking place in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Dr. Harris explained that the key objectives of the Conference are:
- 1.to mainstream climate smart agriculture within the broader development goals of countries;
- 2.to determine effective strategies and practices to scale up the implementation of climate smart agriculture as a driver of green growth and share information, experiences and good practices among stakeholders;
- 3.to address drivers and constraints climate smart agriculture development with a particular focus on priorities for improving the enabling environment and for increasing private investment at all levels and scales through the value chain; and
- 4.to promote a landscape approach, including enhancing linkages between agriculture and forestry.
Speaking of the potential benefits, to be realized, Dr Harris said “the scaling up of investment in agriculture is a challenge for St Kitts and Nevis in the context of its heavy indebtedness. Therefore the identification of new financing opportunities and options for applied research, training and extension will be beneficial to us”.
We can learn and adopt best practices on increasing and prioritizing private sector participation in the agricultural sector. We need some of our more resourced entities to make the investment in agriculture and in that regard we need to find models of feasible public /private sector partnerships that can be adopted to St Kitts and Nevis, said the minister.