IICA assists Dominica in new ‘resilience focused’ National Agriculture Policy

Roseau2 — Above: Kent Coipel, Technical Specialist, IICA Dominica; Gregg C. E. Rawlins, IICA Representative in the Eastern Caribbean States (ECS); Fidel Grant, Minister of Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security. Below: Stacy Rose, IICA Consultant for the National Agriculture Policy; Tony Cyrille, Agriculture Officer assigned to the National Agriculture Policy Assignment.

Roseau, Dominica, November 26, 2020 (IICA) - The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is supporting Dominica’s thrust for climate resilience as the country zeroes in on building a more resilient agriculture sector.

The events of Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 and Hurricane Maria in 2017 have increased the urgency for the need to incorporate resilience and sustainability as fundamental pillars of all agricultural related policies and programmes in Dominica.

IICA is supporting the activities undertaken by the Government of Dominica through the Ministry of Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security towards a National Agriculture Policy which will see the establishment of Dominica as a Global Center for Agricultural Resilience (GCARD).

The positioning of Dominica as a GCARD is one of two strategic indicators developed under the Dominica Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan for which implementation is being coordinated by the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD).

The other indicator provides for the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by 60% of farmers on the island.

IICA, through a collaborative process with CREAD and the Ministry of Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security sought the expertise of a consultant to develop the policy which will optimize opportunities within the blue and green economic space, enhance food and nutrition security, promote strategies for building resilience of the agriculture sector, promote inclusiveness and equitable access to resources and ultimately bolster the overall socio-economic development goals of Dominica.

Through direct consultation, stakeholders can provide feedback on the realities of the current situation and prospects for achieving a resilient agriculture sector.

A consultant, Stacy Rose of Jamaica, was recruited by IICA to lead the process of the policy formulation. Over the past few weeks, Rose has been conducting a series of virtual consultations with stakeholders and is expected to complete the draft Agriculture Policy Framework by the end of this month.

The new national policy on agriculture will also take into consideration existing policy documents in the agriculture sector and incorporate elements that are relevant to the new policy framework.

Additionally, this new framework will adequately engage and manage dialogue and feedback process involving both national and international stakeholders and establish development elements and milestones while incorporating GCARD and the transformation of the agriculture sector in Dominica’s vision for resilience.

More information:

Institutional Communication Division at IICA

comunicacion.institucional@iica.int