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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
As part of its commitment to nation building and the development of a cadre of trained specialists within the field of agriculture and extension, The Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) is set to host its Inaugural Agricultural Extension Training Programme, July 19 – 29 at its campus in North Andros. The intensive two-week schedule will offer hands-on field experience as well as lectures by international and industry specialists for students and recent graduates who will take on the role of professionally-trained extension officers by the end of the summer.
With a shift in the Government’s focus to include the advancement and maturation of the agriculture industry as one of its principal mandates, the provision of trained agriculturalist will ensure the sustainability of this nation’s environment and support the government’s efforts to bolster food security measures across the archipelago. Godfrey Eneas, president of BAMSI and the Bahamas Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, said the end goal for this exercise, and ongoing educational opportunities offered by BAMSI, is to revitalize an industry that less than five years ago was experiencing a dearth of technically trained, on the ground personnel.
He explained that in 2012, 200 persons were employed within the Ministry of Agriculture, but only ten per cent of that number were professionally trained. What perhaps served as an even greater detriment to the forward movement of agriculture in the Bahamas was that of the 200, nearly 90 per cent were located in New Providence – an alarming statistic when it is considered that a significant majority of farmers live and farm in the Family Islands.
These front -line professionals then, will drive the expansion of the industry by providing support to farmers when they encounter difficulty in the field or require training; in the use of new materials such as seeds/seedlings, agricultural-related techniques such as planting, harvesting, spraying or post-harvest practices and the development of agro processing campaigns and marketing of their produce. Based on their studies and training, own experience in farming, and access to technical information and skilled educators and agriculturalists, the graduates - now turned extension officers - will also be able to assist farmers in engaging in best practices and protocols when dealing with pest management, disease control, swine production, irrigation and soil management issues, greenhouse designs and management and more.
While the training is open to the public, recent graduates and students nearing the completion of their degree programme, have been invited to attend. The accredited course, which will be led by extension and integrated pest management specialists from the University of Florida, will be offered on a yearly basis going forward and those who successfully complete the session will receive a certificate. Along with the knowledge gained over the course of two years of study, these two weeks will serve as an orientation period before they move into the field. The students will be placed on Family Islands – from Eleuthera to Abaco and particularly the southern islands – under the tutelage of senior extension officers, a number of whom have been recruited from Trinidad.
“The aim is to place our graduates in all of our islands with the view of developing farmer’s groups in each island and nationally, a network of farmers who over time can position themselves as a powerful lobby so that the needs of the Bahamian farmer will never again be neglected or forgotten,” Ambassador Eneas said.
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