The Diamonites Community Youth Group pushes the Youth in Agriculture Campaign

The Diamonites Community Group, located in Diamonds village, arranged an open-air meeting at Earlene Horne’s Square on Thursday, February 16th 2023 to educate young people about the benefits and opportunities available in the agricultural sector.

Deputy Chief Agricultural Officer, Colville King spoke about the available opportunities for job creation and income for youths.

Owner and Manager of JJ’s Farm located in Hadley’s Village, Jonathan Durrant shared his success in vegetable production and encouraged the youths present to get involved in the agricultural sector as it is an avenue for a sustainable income.

He highlighted the need for technology in local crop production and urged listeners to expand agro-processing and value addition in the agricultural sector here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

He also outlined the opportunities in agro-tourism for youths in Diamonds Village and concluded by encouraging young persons to start producing to attract financing, be accountable and apply management principles to their venture.

Minister of Agriculture, Hon Saboto Caesar announced the formation of the Mozambique Farms in the Village of Diamond and outlined the opportunities available for young farmers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines especially in vegetable production.

The Minister stressed the need to move away from some of the traditional implements to more modern technology to assist in the transforming SVG’s agricultural sector.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Caesar presented Mozambique Farms with two water tanks to assist with water availability on the farm.

The Youth Agri-entrepreneurship for Rural Development (YARD) project aims to improve production capacity and competitiveness of young agrientrepreneurs through better access to lands, facilities, equipment, skills development and seed capital. The project is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and National Mobilisation (Youth Affairs Department) and funded by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO).