3,500 Women, Youth to Benefit from Training Under Gender-Responsive Climate-Smart Project

More than 3,500 women and youth are being targeted for training in agriculture as part of efforts to increase their participation in the sector.

The training will be facilitated under the Gender-responsive Climate-smart Agriculture and Food Systems in the Caribbean project, which was recently launched at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston.

It is being executed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, and through support from the Government of Canada.

The youth and women empowerment component of the programme will provide for training in business modelling, financing and production practices for better market access.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, in his address at the launch, said that the initiative will serve to promote equity in agriculture.

He said that women and youth face significant barriers to entry in the sector, including access to essential resources, extension services, land ownership, climate smart tools, and credit facilities and financial services for their agricultural enterprises.

“We remain committed, as a Government, to create an environment that reduces inequality, promotes gender equity and inclusivity and ensures our youth have a space to participate,” the Minister said.

Noting that 16 agro-processing facilities are being targeted for upgrades under the programme, he said that these will directly help youth and women involved in the sub-sector.

“This directly aligns with our drive to ensure that more youth, more women have access; remove the barriers, and [that] they are participating in our agriculture [sector],” he said.

Other key activities under the project include knowledge-sharing for the creation and distribution of resources to enhance the use of gender-responsive climate-smart technologies, facility upgrades to strengthen agro-processing and production facilities to boost climate resilience and minimise food waste and market linkages to facilitate organising community fairs and national fora to connect local producers with buyers regionally and nationally.