CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -– Third-quarter performance and plans for the fourth quarter were discussed by the Ministry of Agriculture on Nevis during an Oct. 6 presentation at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall of its Agenda 2020.
Huey Sargeant, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture on Nevis, explained that Agenda 2020 had been implemented for three years.Hon. Alexis Jeffers, Minister of Agriculture, spoke of the importance of the reporting session from all the units within the Department of Agriculture on their achievements and challenges, and to chart the way forward for the last three months of the year.
“This event is an important one,” said Hon. Jeffers. “We are looking for accountability in terms of reporting, and in terms of what needs to be done to ensure that all of the persons who we expect to deliver for us at the department are doing their job.
“It’s not always an easy task to achieve your objectives, but there must be some foundation set, at least to build upon, to ensure you’re moving towards the place you want to get to.
“Coming out of this session, we’ll be able to plan adequately and put a sound pathway in place,” said Jeffers. “We can really say at the end of the year that moving forward…we’ll be able to gauge ourselves in terms of the market we’re supplying to, and making sure we are supplying the food that is needed to feed our people.”
The nine presenters were Quincy Bart of the Quarantine Unit; Elvin Sutton of the Engineering- Small Farms Equipment Pool (SFEP) Unit; Dr. Ambrose James of the Vet Services Unit; Kelso Clarke of the Livestock Unit; Gary Griffin of the Abattoir; Mrs. Shermel England of the Agro Processing Unit; Steve Reid of the Extension Services Unit; Ms. Kelva Liburd of the Marketing Unit; and Floyd Liburd, from the Forestry Unit.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Huey Sargeant, explained that the purpose of the forum was to give agriculture stakeholders insight into the ministry’s achievements of its Agenda 2020 programme.
Sargeant explained that Agenda 2020 had been implemented for three years. However, this year a reporting segment was added after the ministry engaged the services of Augustine Merchant to help with the necessary corrective action. Merchant is a former Director of Agriculture who later became the coordinator of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in St. Kitts and Nevis.
In addition to stakeholders on Nevis, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture in St. Kitts and representatives from the Taiwanese Technical Mission to St. Kitts and Nevis were in attendance.
A section of those present at the Ministry and Department of Agriculture’s Fourth Quarter presentation at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall.
