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Communications Officer, Mr. Eric Evelyn (left) during an interview with Ms Gordon and Island Representative for IICA, Mr. Augustine Merchant (right) |
Charlestown Nevis (April 21, 2005) Newly appointed IICA Representative for the Eastern Caribbean States, Ms Una May Gordon on Wednesday 20, says that it is time for the people of the region to start appreciating the true value of agriculture.
She was at the time paying a courtesy call on the Minister and Ministry of Agriculture here in Nevis as the recently appointed Representative in the Eastern Caribbean States (ECS) for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
As we move forward, I think of the things that I would really like to see happening in the countries (and as small states as I call them) is for the people to start to appreciate the value, the true value of agriculture, and I am talking at all levels, said Ms Gordon during an interview with the Communications Officer for Agriculture, Mr. Eric Evelyn.
Ms Gordon who is Jamaican by birth and Agriculturalist by profession, says that her focus in agriculture has always been to take agriculture as a business. She commented that her vision for the region will entail the raising of the profile of agriculture as well as what the real value of agriculture is. We would want to start to measure the contribution, IICAs own contribution and also the contribution of the agriculture sector to the total economy.
As the former IICA Regional Specialist in Agro-Business, Ms Gordon pointed out that she has worked in the agriculture sector for some twenty-five years and that it was her belief that within the next couple of years, agriculture will retake its rightful place in the economy, adding, With all the talk of tourism being the most important economy, (I really beg to differ) that the tourism cannot survive without the agriculture sector and therefore they must compliment each other for it to happen.
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Jr Minister of Agriculture, Hon Livingston Herbert welcomes Ms Una May Gordon, IICA Representative for the Eastern Caribbean States |
Junior Minister of Agriculture, the Hon Livingston Herbert welcomed Ms Gordon on behalf of the Nevis Island Administration and the people of Nevis to the island as the official IICA Representative in the ECS.
He said that although Ms Gordon was no stranger to the island of Nevis, it was his belief that she had known the region and that we (the region) could benefit from her experiences.
To my mind, agriculture is being transformed and we are looking forward with her expertise that we can develop our farmers so that they can see agriculture as a business more than agriculture as a livelihood. With Ms. Gordons guidance and assistance, Im sure that we would be able to do that here in Nevis, Minister Herbert intimated.
With all the challenges facing us, agriculture still remains the single most important industry to the economies of the region. As we move further into the 21st century, people will start to realize that we will have to start to look at the food production, we will have to start to look at the change in role of government in this new scenario, and we will have to focus on training and our thinking.
We will have to start to look at young people and how we can involve them and engage them and start to change the profile of the sector which we serve, commented the ECS Representative.
She was accompanied by the IICA Representative for St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Augustine Merchant. Ms Gordon serves six countries in the Eastern Caribbean States and is based in St. Lucia.
