The Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation’s (BEF) National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Schools Agriculture Entrepreneurship Project has the potential to not only provide new job opportunities for young people, but also address the growing concern of food security.
Presenting an $80,000 cheque to the project, Chairman of the Massy Foundation (Barbados) Everton Browne said that such investment by the private sector was critical if as a country, “we are to make inroads in creating a sustainable agriculture sector and thereby ensuring further development of the nation.”
He outlined the initiative with the BEF has an enduring value for the overall development of the country, insisting that is could be the starting point of what is needed to advance sustainability, food security and economic growth in the sector.
Commenting on Barbados’ 25 percent youth unemployment level, Browne said, “We also know that the agricultural sector is one of the most significant drivers of economic activity, and on average, it is found to be twice as effective in reducing poverty as compared to growth in other areas. Therefore, it is vital for us to find ways to unlock the transformative potential in agriculture, to connect more young people to becoming active contributors to the economy and paving a way out of their unemployed status.”
On the topic of food security, Browne added that with a growing world population and spiking food prices as a developing nation, Barbados must produce more of its own food.
“At the same time, traditional methods of production are challenged to satisfy the growing demand, especially when pitted against the phenomena of climate change which manifests in such forms as increasing droughts and less predictable rainfall. I am therefore pleased to see that the students involved in this pilot will be exposed to these emerging methods, since it is these new approaches that will hold special appeal in attracting and retaining young people in the sector,” he asserted. (JMB)
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