News Releases

UWI launches CARICOM Food Security Project

For Release Upon Receipt - June 3, 2011

St. Augustine


 

The University of the West Indies (UWI) collaborates with McGill University, Canada, to launch the UWI/McGill CARICOM Food Security Project, at an Inception Workshop from June 7th and 8th, 2011, from 8 am to 5.30 pm each day, at The UWI St. Augustine Campus. This event is hosted by the Departments of Agricultural Economics and Extension, and Food Production, Science and Agriculture.

The UWI/McGill CARICOM Food Security Project was initiated as a part of The University’s mission to improve food and nutrition security in the Caribbean. It will apply an “integrated and systems approach” to the issues of agriculture, food and health in the Caribbean and aims to adopt the “farm-to-fork” approach that links agriculture and food to human health and wellness.

This project will address the paradox of under-nutrition and over-nutrition (manifested by the prevalence of obesity and diabetes) in CARICOM countries by researching and introducing technologies for increasing agricultural productivity and diversity, while seeking to produce more nutritious foods in four CARICOM countries, including Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis.

In addition to its collaboration with McGill University, The UWI is working with a number of Third Party Partners, including the University of Guyana (UG);  the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT); the Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE) Lima, Peru; the Ministries of Education – National School Dietary Services Limited in St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago; the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI); the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI); the Ministries of Agriculture in St. Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia; the Ministry of Health in St. Kitts and Nevis; the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC), St. Lucia; and the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana. 

The UWI team from Trinidad and Tobago includes Project Leader, Dr. Isabella Granderson, Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension; and Subtheme team leaders and members, Professor Richard Brathwaite, Professor Neela Badrie, Mr. Ezra Bartholomew and Mr. Chaney St. Martin, at the Department of Food Production; Dr. Carlisle Pemberton, Dr. Marquitta Webb and Mrs. Hazel Patterson-Andrews, at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension; Miss Debbie Emamdie, Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research); and Mr. Kevin Kalloo, Bursary.

Speakers at this event include Professor Dyer Narinesingh, Dean, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, UWI; Professor Chandra Madromootoo, Dean, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University; her Excellency Ms. Karen McDonald; Canadian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago; and the Honourable Dr. Vasant Bharath, Minister of Food Production, Land, and Marine Affairs.

This project is funded through a CAD $5 million grant awarded by the Canadian International Food Security Research Foundation (CIFSRF) and the International Development Research Council of Canada (IDRC).

For further information on the UWI/McGill CARICOM Food Security Project, please contact Dr. Isabella Granderson at 662-2002 ext 3209, or via e-mail at Isabella.Granderson@sta.uwi.edu.

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

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