Members present at the induction were (l-r) Mr. Craig Rijkaard representing Gender Affairs, Frederick Southwell (National Focal Point) representing Development Control Authority, Delmaine Andrew representing the Environment Division, Honourable Hilton Baptiste, Carol-Faye Bynoe representing NGO/private sector, Sharon Herbert representing Ministry of Social Transformation, and Austin Joseph representing St. John’s Development Co-operation.  Members absent were Sherrod James (Deputy Focal Point ) representing National office of Disasters and Carlos Brown representing Ministry of Agriculture’s housing scheme.

In closing, the Minister Impressed on the members of the PSUP NSC of the tremendous importance of the proper development of our land space.  He added that it would be the solution to eliminate natural disasters such as flooding while providing better infrastructure and living conditions island-wide.

Mrs. Grant will be proceeding on vacation leave and then commence here retirement from the government service thereafter.

Mrs. Grant, entered the service in 1979 as a junior clerk, then in 1986 she was promoted to a Senior Clerk at the Ministry of Public Works.

A year later in 1987 she was transferred to the Government house as senior clerk where she worked with the then Governor General Sir James Carlisle and Lady Carlisle

Mrs. Grant worked her way through the civil servant system; in 1994 she was then transferred to Industrial Court as the registrar.

Mrs. Grant was a hard worker and very efficient once a task was given to her you could consider it done, hence she was transferred back to the Government house as the Senior Executive Officer in 2002, then in  2005 she was promoted to Assistant Secretary.

Shortly after that she was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture in 2010 as the Senior Assistant Secretary up to her retirement.

The event saw a wide cross section of past co workers such as Lady Carlisle, Honuorable Hilson N Baptiste, The Permanent Secretary Mr. Robelto  Issac , The Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture , family,  and close friends.

Minister Baptiste said Mrs. Grant was “was someone you could always depend on to perform her duties at the highest levels”, she was the life of the party. He, along with many others who gave remarks described her as kind, polite, and always willing to assist.

Minister Baptiste said, although retired, he hoped the Department and staff members could still benefit over the years to come from Mrs. Grant expertise.

In her response, Mrs. Grant said she will miss serving her country and co-workers, and she also commended the Permanent Secretary and the Minister for their leadership and guidance over the years. “I will miss you all, especially my staff in accounts, keep up the hard work and sore for the sky”.

The Minister, Permanent Secretary, and staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and Environment wishes Mrs. Grant all the best in her future endeavors.

Parents, teachers and other stakeholders will also be canvassed for information. The findings will inform implementation and improvement plans for the feeding programme. The Zero Hunger Initiative, a partnership among the Inter American Institute Cooperation of America (IICA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, aims to make the country hunger-free in two years.

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Six individuals were trained as facilitators for the Backyard and Home Gardening Project, which forms part of Zero Hunger Challenge.

The facilitators participated in a Five(5)-day training workshop at the Multipurpose Centre, last week, during which time they were instructed in both theory and practice of various technologies to be used in backyard and home gardening.

They were joined by extension of?cers and householders who will operate Training Demonstration Centres where on-going training will take place for home gardeners in targeted communities.

The workshop agenda included the importance of home gardening, planning a garden, water harvesting, drip irrigation, soil, seeds and caring for the garden.

Participants were engaged in practical sessions, such as building a table from pallets and preparing old tyres to be used for growing vegetables.

The team visited the Greencastle Agricultural Station where they prepared seed trays, planted seeds and started a compost heap. Other ?eld trips took them to sites for the training centres and a home where they were exposed to various backyard gardening technologies.

The facilitators will work in selected vulnerable communities to assist householders in setting up backyard gardens. In addition to providing technical assistance, the Backyard

Gardening Project will also supply seedlings, fertilisers and other inputs to participants.

The target communities are Piggotts/ Potters; Gray’s-Green; Urlings/Old Road; Villa/Point, Ebenezer/Jennings/Bolans; Bendals; Ottos/Whenner Road and Barbuda.

Coordinator of the Backyard Gardening Project Owolabi Elabanjo said people who have already registered can expect to see the facilitators in their communities in the coming weeks, at which time group training sessions will be organised.

Vera Boerger of Panama and Deanne Ramroop of Trinidad, both Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) consultants, provided technical assistance for the workshop along with Elabanjo, who, in addition to coordinating this special project, manages the National Backyard Garden Programme.

“Given the high food import bill and the ever-rising food prices, backyard gardens can help to increase food availability at the household level, improve food consumption patterns, as well as provide a source of income for the family from any surplus,” Elabanjo said.

Individuals may call or visit the Extension Division. It is located on Valley Church Road, in the former PDO building. The phone number is 462-1065.

Senior officials from various government ministries to include Mrs. Paula Fredrick-Hunte Permanent Secretary Office of the Prime Minister, Ms. Ruleta Camacho Senior Environment Officer, Environment Division; Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and Environment, Ms. Tricia Lovell Senior Fisheries Officer, Ms. Karel Forde Public Debt Officer, Debt Management Unit; Ministry of Finance, The Economy & Public Administration and Mr. Kelvin Punter Chair of the Barbuda Council are in San Juan Puerto Rico  attending the Third Senior Officials Meeting as well to prepare final recommendations at the Ministerial Meeting.

Both meetings will be co hosted by the Government of Grenada and Puerto Rico and forms part of the Road Map of activities to prepare for the Summit of Caribbean  Political and Business Leaders which  will be held in  BVI the 17th -18th May,2013.

The summit is designed to address one of the great challenges of our time safeguarding the regions marine and coastal resources for this and future generations in order to secure livelihood and sustain our economics.

The summit will see attendants from other Caribbean Government Officials from Bahamas, BVI, Dominica Republic, Jamaica, Grenada, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia and The St. Vincent and The Grenadines.  The meetings will run 19th to 21st March, 2013.

Mr. Josiah shared his secret for growing giant pumpkins.  “Two years ago I visited San Fernando Trinidad, purchased pumpkin while I was there on my trip, I brought the seeds back to Antigua, planted them and I have been reaping the benefits since.”

Mr. Josiah also use manure from his sheep as fertilizer, which he believes is another reason for the 50 pound pumpkins.

They  are huge and very sweet the proud farmer said. He also complain of praedial larceny and  ask that people desist from this cruel act on farmers. The farmer said he will be selling his crop to hotels and supermarkets.

Photo courtesy Mr. Lennie Josiah.

Nineteen of the 29 houses completed in the North Sound Project have been sold, Minister with responsibility for housing Hon. Hilson Baptiste said.

Minister Baptiste was giving an update of the housing stock in the country, during this week’s edition of Media Roundtable, a current affairs programme produced by the Public Administration

Communications Unit in conjunction with ABS Radio and TV. The show is taped on Thursdays and broadcast on Sundays, at 8 pm.

“The government has embarked upon an empowerment for homeownership drive through private-and-public sector partnership to create affordable and low-cost housing for the citizens of the country,” Minister Baptiste said.

Since 2004 to present, the ministry has partnered with several developers.

“Ballast Bay, Jolly Hill Gardens, North Sound Residential Community and Follies Housing Development were a few developments we embarked upon,” Minister Baptiste said.

The North Sound and Follies projects are the sole responsibility of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHAPA) to complete. The former bene?tted from a humanitarian loan from Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

It is geared toward government workers. In total, 79 housing units will be constructed – 49 single-family units 30 of two-family units. The options are two bedroom, two bathrooms; three bedrooms, two bathrooms; and three bedrooms, three bathrooms, the minister explained.

The infrastructure will include paved roads, utilities, and an underground central sewage plant. The minister said CHAPA is currently formulating to plan to move the Follies project forward.

“This model, when completed, should allow for more fexibility for home ownership,” the minister said.

In the second place, the process to strengthen legal and institutional frameworks is briefly recounted, as well as the evolution of food security policies in the region. Given their renewed comprehensiveness, these have tended to strengthen social policy as a complement of actions in the field of production and availability. This shows that in general the countries of the region have undertaken actions in four major policy areas: small farming and rural development, social and food protection, health and nutritional assistance, and health and nutrition education and training.

Finally, some conclusions will be developed, together with challenges ahead. The FAO policy recommendations will be detailed in order to continue the process of improving food and nutrition security in the region.

II. THE SITUATION OF FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

A) General outlook

Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region that before the food crisis had achieved the reduction of hunger. Nevertheless, after the increase in the food price level and the following economic crisis, this tendency reverted, thus food security became more relevant in the political and social agenda of the countries of the region at the sub-regional and regional level

1. For a region that presents a surplus in the availability of food, the latest FAO estimates indicate that the undernourished population in Latin America and the Caribbean reaches 52.5 million people, equivalent to 9% of its population and 600 thousand people less than in 2009.

This number does not reflect the heterogeneity existing between countries, where the children’s population presents great differences in rates of malnutrition. Due to changes in consumption patterns, progress made with regard to reducing child underno

Increased overweight and obesity is a phenomenon that affects most countries, independent of their economic levels or prevalence of undernutrition. This situation not only supposes a risk of higher health costs for the coming years, but it also, and like undernutrition, generates limitations for the development of the population.

This new facet of malnutrition has gained in importance and it is present on the agendas of various countries of the region, promoting health life styles and food programs. Likewise, international efforts, such a the Pan American Conference on Obesity have focused on the child population and have called to recognize the importance and expansion this disease has had in the countries of the region in order to develop actions to face it.

B) Evolution of food prices

The new setting, because of a higher level and increased volatility of international food prices, is part of a wider phenomenon, affecting not only the prices of food but also the prices of other raw material. In the last years the prices of international food have registered constant increases, exceeding the historical figures. The FAO price index for food reflects this behavior. In the context of the food crisis mid 2008 a first

peak was registered, after which prices fell but without going back to the levels before the crisis. At the beginning of 2011, again there was an increase exceeding the values of 2008, and from 2011 until May 2012 the tendency has been towards a reduction in food prices, measured according to its yearly variations.

The increase in international food prices turns out to be relevant when the country is net importer of certain basic products of the countries’ diet, as it reduces the buying capacity, especially for the sectors with less income, which can translate into an opportunity for import substitution thus increasing production. Contrarywise, net exporting countries benefit because their trade balance increases and, if the increase in the price of food is translated into an increase in the prices perceived by the product, their income will increase and there will be an incentive to increase production.

International prices have an impact on the countries’ economies, and that is why it is relevant to observe the evolution of inflation in Latin America and the Caribbean as it directly affects the purchasing power of the families. The food inflation analyses must be more in-depth, particularly in lower incomes homes where food expenditure represents a large relative proportion of their income.

The variation in food prices have shown the same tendency as general inflation but with more pronounced highs and lows. The recent evolution of international prices, that sometimes have exceeded the highest levels of 2008, have not translated into such drastic national inflationary pressures as during the food crisis. Nevertheless, food inflation explains around 30% of the region’s general inflation (FAO, 2011.

REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF THE

FIFTH MEETING OF THE 2025 WORKING GROUP (GT 2025

                                                                                         Presidency of the Meeting: Peru

Alternate Presidency: GRULAC

Secretariat: FAO RLC

The Latin America and the Caribbean without Hunger 2025 Initiative (in Spanish, ALCSH) originated in the commitment of countries and organizations in the region, with the support of FAO – which has taken on the Technical Secretariat of the project – to eradicate hunger within one generation and ensure food and nutritional security for all inhabitants within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The initiative was first presented and discussed during the Latin American Summit on Chronic Hunger in Guatemala in September 2005. It was subsequently outlined in the Declaration of Presidents of Central America and Brazil of September 13, 2005, supported by Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Brazil. In November 2005, the initiative was presented to Mr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, and Ambassador Juan Pablo de la Iglesia, Secretary General of AECID.

During 2006, the Initiative gained the support of the presidents of Brazil and Guatemala, the support and assistance of FAO was requested, and the UN-represented Latin American and Caribbean Group of Countries (GRULAC) formally endorsed the initiative. In response to these requests the support project for the Initiative was created, which received financial support from the Kingdom of Spain through the Spain-FAO Trust Fund. The project, code GCP/RLA/160/SPA, began operating on 03/10/06.

At the 29th Regional Conference (Caracas, April 2006), the ambassadors of the UN Latin American and Caribbean Group of Countries (GRULAC) asked the FAO Regional Representation for Latin America and the Caribbean (FAO RLC) to assume coordination of this project. At the same Conference, along with giving the project working space and functionality, representatives also agreed to create the Working Group for the Initiative (GT 2025) to be made up of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.

It was agreed that GT 2025 would meet annually so as to maintain the flow of information between nations.

Additionally it was agreed that the First Meeting of GT 2025 would be held in Guatemala in November of that year. The Initiative was subsequently presented at the 32nd Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and was included as a standing item on the Committee agenda. In October 2006, the Initiative began operating in the countries of the region, with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation. This agreement was reaffirmed at the 30th FAO Regional Conference.

The Second Meeting of GT 2025 was held in Bogotá on September 24 and 25, 2007; the Third Meeting of GT 2025 in Buenos Aires on October 6 and 7, 2008; and the Fourth Meeting in Quito, March 15 and 16. In this last meeting country representatives recognized the importance of civil society participation in the Initiative’s work, pledged their commitment to continue working with the Initiative in its efforts to combat hunger, and agreed to a meeting within the framework of the 31st FAO Regional Conference, with the Regional Integration Bodies, through GRULAC representatives, in order to discuss the possible coordination of these bodies with the Initiative. In addition, the Secretariat agreed to develop a web tool to promote South-South cooperation on food security issues.