The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands,ย Fisheries and Cooperative, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), hasย launched two projects to promote digital agriculture and resilient agri-food systems in Grenada.
The Global Network of Digital Agriculture Innovation Hubs (DAIH) and the Regional E agriculture for the Caribbean, a post COVIDโ19 mechanism to promote resilient agri-food (REA)ย were both launched during an Inception and Workplan Validation Workshop for the projects,ย from March 22 -24, 2023.
The projects aim to support current initiatives implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture andย Lands, Fisheries and Cooperatives with FAOโs technical support, and to strengthen the enablingย environment for the adoption of digital agriculture strategies at the national level.
They will also seek to establish a national digital agriculture innovation hub and programme toย accelerate the development and uptake of digital innovations that support farmers and otherย value chain actors, especially youth and women, to become more competitive. Both projectsย will use innovation as a tool to drive public-private partnerships.
The DAIH initiative will support the Ministry in establishing a digital transformation strategy,ย starting with an intervention to respond to gaps in digital agriculture. The Innovation hub willย create a space where different agricultural connections can be made between stakeholders inย agriculture, such as linking farmers with extension officers. This may include a marketing app orย a farmerโs registration portal which would strengthen the services offered by the Ministry ofย Agriculture and Lands, Fisheries and Cooperatives.
The focus of the REA in Grenada will be the establishment of a drone mapping and Geographicย Information System (GIS) team in the Ministry of Agriculture. This will allow the Ministry toย utilise better agriculture data collection and planning techniques and acquire updated spatialย information for the farming population.
The updated information will allow the Ministry of Agriculture to efficiently respond to affectedย farming communities when managing systemic multi-hazards risks such as flooding.
Aaron Francois, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture in speaking about the digitalย tools, stated that, โthere are serious challenges that are facing the agricultural sector and weย know some of them very well. They include low product quality, high input prices, lack ofย information on best practices, lack of market information for informed decision making, and aย high incidence of praedial larceny. We have included a component to address praedial larcenyย using digital technologyโ.
Nikola Trendov, FAO Digital Agriculture, and Innovation Specialist explained that digitalizationย in agrifood systems brings several opportunities and , โthe new generations are already digitalย natives and equipping them with these tools can improve food security and help persons to beย more resilient to the impacts of climate changeโ.
Meanwhile, Kenton Fletcher, Focal Point for the Project and Computer Systems Administratorย in the Ministry of Agriculture stated that, โWe need to bring in Information and communicationย technologies to improve production, to improve marketing and also have innovative ideas onย how we can help farmers do better record keeping, and better management of their farmsโ.
Vermaran Extavour, FAO Project Coordinator said that the initiatives would provide Grenadaย with a strategy for transforming the sector digitally while piloting the use of emerging solutionsย in the agriculture sector for farmers โto access weather data that is relevant for planting andย making more informed decisionsโ.
The E-agriculture for the Caribbean, a post COVIDโ19 mechanism to promote Resilient Agri Food (REA) is a regional project benefitting six countries: the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica,ย Grenada, Guyana and St, Kitts, and Nevis.
