Specialists from 11 Caribbean countries took part in a course organized by the Government of Colombia and CLAYUCA, with support from IICA.
Trinidad and Tobago, September 22, 2014 (IICA). With support from the Government of Colombia, 11 Caribbean countries received training in the implementation of new technologies for cassava production, with the aim of improving competitiveness and promoting technological innovations and value added in cassava products.
The Intensive course on modern technologies for the production and use of cassava: Support for the sustainable development of the cassava sector in the Caribbean region, facilitated by the CLAYUCA Corporation, presented the most recent technical advances in modern technologies for cassava production.
The training activity, carried out in Colombia at the end of August, received support from Colombia’s Presidential Agency for International Cooperation (APC) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).
The participants included professionals from the agricultural sectors of Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, Belize, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis, Jamaica, Dominica and Grenada, designated by their respective country’s minister of agriculture.
CLAYUCA requested assistance from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) with the selection of the participants under the cooperation agreement between the institutions.
The specialists were selected based on their experience with the promotion of tuber production in their countries; the importance of their activities for the industry’s sustainability; and their participation in the promotion and implementation of policies to improve productivity and develop new food products.
“This experience allowed me to gain a broader vision for the task of developing the cassava value chain in St. Lucia, with the application of modern technologies,” commented George Small, an agronomist who heads up St. Lucia’s Region VII.
During the course, IICA agricultural health and food safety specialist Lisa Harrynanan gave a presentation on the current state of root and tuber processing in the Caribbean, based on the publication Roots and Tubers Processing in the Caribbean: Status and Guidelines.
To facilitate direct technical support for the development of agribusinesses in his country, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Food Production, Devant Maharaj decided that it should become a member of CLAYUCA. The minister also had the opportunity to engage with officials from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and representatives of CLAYUCA, the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR), other research institutions linked to the promotion of cassava and other industries of interest to Trinidad and Tobago.
The delegation that accompanied Maharaj included officials from the ministry’s Cassava Commodity Task Force and the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO).
IICA, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and CLAYUCA are promoting the construction of a partnership designed to boost cassava production and processing in the Caribbean, which calls for a reliable network of leaders in each country.
“We hope this initiative will contribute to the creation of a stronger partnership among the countries. We need to generate technological innovations that improve production efficiency and promote value added,” observed Humberto Gómez, a regional technological innovation specialist with IICA.
For further information:
humberto.gomez@iica.int
