Persons who have graduated from the Youth Agri-preneurship Incubator Programme (YAIP) are getting access to land to facilitate them in their chosen careers.
That’s the word from Kareem Payne, Project Coordinator of YAIP. He was speaking at the recently held graduation and awards ceremony for the programme at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, as he indicated that access to land is a major debilitating factor for some of the YAIP participants seeking to pursue agriculture in earnest.
Payne spoke to that reality as he revealed that the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) has come to the graduates’ rescue.
“I am pleased to report that the BADMC has committed to assisting our students and has already apportioned land for YAIP graduates, as well as provided particular land preparation services at no cost to our students,” he told those present.
Payne’s comments came as he spoke to the success of the programme which consisted of five cohorts. According to him, since the initiative commenced in 2015 some 67 persons have graduated – a student completion rate of 84 per cent. The programme, he explained, aims to expose participants to the practical side of the agricultural sector as well as seeks to curtail a number of issues facing Barbados, including food security, youth unemployment and the mean age of local farmers. Many of the graduates have gone on to start successful ventures, “in spite of the no’s and in spite of the doors being shut in their faces”.
“The programme is extensive as it is intensive and covers a range of areas, from aquaponics to zoonosis and everything else in between. Essentially, however, the ultimate objective is to support entrepreneurship in agriculture not only by supporting young entrepreneurs, but also by supporting the enterprising youth who have shown an interest in developing the sector,” he said.
Payne added, “However the YAIP alone cannot solve all the aforementioned problems alone, but what it can do, with the right support, is contribute to the solution.”
To that end, he revealed that 60 per cent of those who completed the programme are still involved in agriculture either on a part-time or full-time basis, through their own businesses, working together with other young people or employed by an existing agricultural business. (JRT)