WOMEN TRAINED IN ADDING VALUE Thursday 21st June 2018
June 20th, 2018 - A two-day workshop aimed at providing the skills to add value to local starch in the sweet potato and cassava value chains has been hailed a success. The exercise was also aimed at diversifying the market channel and creating a new agri-business in Antigua and Barbuda.
The key agencies that were behind this timely project are The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Caribbean Agriculture Research Development Institute (CARDI), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs (MoAFBA) and the Epicurean Supermarket.
IICA’S National Specialist Craig Thomas said that the initiative benefited twelve (12) women from the Local Caribbean Agriculture Network of Rural Women Producers (CANROP) Group, the Food and Nutrition Department of the Ministry of Education and the Private Sector, to better support their respective organizations utilizing local processed commodities to produce bread.
The aim also was for women to receive training from two facilitators from the Epicurean Supermarket who were trained under the Agriculture Policy Programme (APP) on processing new cassava and sweet potato products which are in high demand in Antigua and Barbuda.
During the workshop, participants learned how to calculate and measure the ratio of local starch (cassava and sweet potato) to flour, food safety measures linked to baking and they were also exposed to a wide selection of the tools and equipment used to produce the end product.
This activity was part-funded through IICA's Training and Technical Event Resources.
Since its inception in 2016 under the APP Programme, IICA in collaboration with CARDI and other stakeholders have been executing this training in Antigua on an annual basis.
IICA is currently engaged in discussions with the Barbuda Council and the Ministry of Agriculture to execute a similar activity on the sister isle which has not experienced this type of training.
IICA is the specialized agency for agriculture in the Inter-American system, with a mission to encourage, promote and support its 34 Member States in their efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence.
Communications Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs
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