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April 2018
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This past March, from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25, UWI St. Augustine’s Faculty of Food and Agriculture’s (FFA) techAGRI Expo 2018 gave the country a glimpse of what T&T’s food future could be. “The purpose of techAGRI is to draw national attention to agriculture and food,” said Dr. Wayne Ganpat, Dean of the FFA, at the opening ceremony. “Make no bones about it, Trinidad and Tobago is not a food secure nation. As a consequence we need all hands on deck to provide some level of food security for our children.” Held at the green and sprawling Admin West Field on the campus, the expo was a festival of agri-entrepreneurs, a vast array of innovative agro-products, fresh produce, the latest in farm technology, seminars, school tours, a food village and even a small zoo. The FFA said that over 200 entrepreneurs took part and more than 3,500 students from primary and secondary schools attended. Attendees at the opening ceremony included Cuban Ambassador Guillermo Vázquez Moreno, Colombian Ambassador Alfonso Múnera Cavadia, and senior diplomats from the High Commissions of India and Jamaica. Members of The UWI executive such as Pro Vice-Chancellor of Graduate Studies and Research, Dr. Dale Webber, St. Augustine Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland and Deputy Principal Professor Indar Ramnarine were also there. Dr. John Alleyne, advisor on agriculture in the Office of the Prime Minister, applauded the expo for its focus on cooperation and pledged the Government’s support: “The Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Agriculture are behind you. We have to work together. It is a collaborative effort – university working together with farmers, working together with (government) to get it done.”
The Dean also said the Faculty would be working with PVC Webber on a “food and security research cluster across the three UWI campuses.” “Under the leadership of Dr. Webber we will coordinate research and education in agriculture,” Dr. Ganpat said. “As the Dean of FFA I promise to be unrelenting in seeking every opportunity within my mandate to build a food-secure nation for our children.” Visitors to the expo took part in tours of the National Herbarium (home to samples of every plant species in T&T), the Cocoa Research Centre and the FFA’s laboratories and facilities. They purchased items such as exotic plants, fruit and vegetable beverages, local coffees, soaps and skin care items, handcrafted jewelry and many more. FFA staff and students played a major part in building and manning the expo, as well as conducting tours. Dr. Ganpat made special mention of the agri-entrepreneurship on display: “TechAGRI is intended to expose the public to the wide range of food and fruit products that have been brought to market by scores of small entrepreneurs – all based on local products. Many of these entrepreneurs just need a one-stop shop where they can go and get all the help they need to expose their products nationally, regionally and internationally. Well, who will help them?” The FFA also used the occasion to launch a product of its own, University Station Goat’s Milk. The new product, fresh milk from pasture-fed goats will join the highly successful University Field Station Cow’s Milk on local shelves. Speaking on the current national landscape for food production, Professor Copeland said, “we have grown accustomed to a wide variety of food and drink brought here from all parts of the world. Alongside this easy access has been an unnerving increase in obesity and chronic lifestyle diseases.” He added: “Now that access to foreign exchange has become challenging for business and individuals alike it is more than time to lend support to the Ministry of Agriculture in its call to ‘buy local’ and turn our much touted creativity into profitable endeavours.” “Out of evil can indeed come good. For farmers, entrepreneurs and financiers alike there is opportunity to be had in the current economic state. We just have to go brave,” Copeland said. |
Imagine a food-secure Trinidad and Tobago, where farmers and manufacturers, supported by investment and innovation, produce world-class goods for domestic and international consumption. Imagine the impact it could have on T&T’s $7 billion food import bill and skyrocketing obesity rates. Imagine what a vibrant food production industry could mean for economic diversification, foreign exchange and employment.
Dr. Ganpat also announced several other initiatives aimed at promoting food security. These included the offering of new certificate programmes in agriculture and human ecology, a graduate programme in value addition for food security, the hosting of a national symposium on food security in May 2018 and an international conference on climate change and food security in November 2018.