IICA Grenada accounts to its stakeholders
Grenada, 31 March, 2017 (IICA). The Delegation in Grenada of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of this nation, held its annual accountability seminar, at which IICA presented the activities carried out in the country during the past year and presented its plans for 2017.
Senior officers from the Ministry of Agriculture, technical cooperation partners, farmers’ organizations and national authority personnel attended the activity. The results from the activities implemented in 2016 were well received by the 31 stakeholders who attended.
Merina Jessamy, Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Agriculture, Lands, Forestry and Fisheries, addressing the Seminar on behalf of Minister Yolande Bain-Horsford, mentioned the usefulness of a proper accountability system in every organization or institution as a necessary condition for achieving success.
She also stated that despite the difficult global economic environment with which the agri-food sector in Grenada is being developed, she was pleased that the sector’s performance in 2016 has been a fairly good one, despite the number of challenges.
During the accountability seminar, the National Specialist of the IICA Delegation in Grenada, Derek Charles, delivered the key results achieved in four thematic areas:
- Family Agriculture
- Resilience in Agriculture
- Agriculture Policy Programme (APP)
- Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Project
Activities relating to Climate Change and the SPS Project stood out as being the most important to the country in 2016.
The Permanent Secretary mentioned the areas in which Grenada has benefitted significantly from the many projects and interventions that have been provided by IICA over the past year and conveyed the deep appreciation of the Ministry of Agriculture and indeed, the Government of Grenada, to IICA for all the support it has been providing to the sector over the years.
Permanent Secretary Jessamy acknowledged the Institution’s stunning contribution to the agricultural sector and by extension, its contribution to the socio-economic development of Grenada. She then took the opportunity to congratulate IICA for reaching its milestone of 75 years of existence this year.
Derek Charles also presented some of the country’s focuses for 2017, which are: climate smart agriculture, agri-business, governance work with youth and women and activities emanating from the Mexico-Caribbean Ministers Meeting in October 2016. He also provided an overview of IICA’s technical cooperation model and the various instruments being used to deliver technical cooperation actions to the country.
Our commitment, results
The IICA Delegation also used the opportunity to present a copy of the Agriculture Health and Food Safety (AHFS) Policy, which was a national activity under the SPS project. A leaflet highlighting the achievements under the APP in 2016 was shared with participants.
The collaborative work among the technical cooperation institutions was commended for ensuring that a unified technical package was delivered to the stakeholders in some instances, thus reducing on duplication and saving on cost.
Exhibits by the Grenada Network of Rural Women Producers (GRENROP) have become a main feature of the Delegation’s Accountability Seminar. IICA supports this group through training, knowledge and dialogue.
The rural women put on another impressive display for the second consecutive year where agricultural produce and agro-processed items were displayed. The objective of the displays is to provide greater visibility to the group, and to assist them in marketing and linking them to new markets.
“This was another successful Accountability Seminar hosted by the IICA Grenada Delegation. This success was based on the results achieved in its work programme for 2016; the positive comments by the Minister on the achievements of IICA; and the interactions by stakeholders and strategic partners during the presentation of the 2016 report”, stated IICA’s national specialist, Derek Charles.
Charles considers that the increase in the number of persons who attended the Seminar, compared to that of 2015, was also an indication of the interest by stakeholders in IICA’s actions. In his opinion, this contributed to making the Delegation more eager to provide an account of its work in the country.
More information:
Derek Charles, National Specialist of the IICA Delegation in Grenada.