An Online Resource for Food and Agriculture

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provides information that is geared towards fighting hunger and achieving food security. The FAO Country Profiles and Mapping Information System information retrieval tool complies data on "global activities in agriculture and development in a single area and catalogues it exclusively by country. Th[is] system offers decision-makers around the world a fast and reliable way to access country-specific information without the need to search individual databases and systems". This online site categorizes its data under two headings: 

1. Natural resources, economics, agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, and technical cooperation.

2. Global issues ranging from biotechnology to climate change and food security.

FAO - an online resource also provides its readers with a Knowledge Forum (Good Practices; Knowledge Networks and Communities; Knowledge Management and Gender); Statistics; and Various Publications of pertinent issues.

The Committee of Forestry (COFO) 2012 held their World Forest Week in September - Forests:  a green pathway for human development.The following key topics were highlighted at this event:

• Integrating forests with environmental and land use policies at all levels
• Forests, trees  and people together in a living landscape: A key to rural development
• Broadening the financial basis for sustainable forest management: wood and non-wood products, services, innovations, markets, investments and international instruments
• Sound information and knowledge base for better policies and good governance

 

Connecting Caribbean Farmers Via Radio and Web 2.0

According to Roderick St Clair,  the host of 'Eat Caribbean radio programme', "[f]armers do not always have time to read booklets and guides, however useful they are. But they can listen to the radio while they work and hear from people just like them, experiencing, and solving, the same problems".

His talk show, broadcasting since 2011, focuses on the local farmers - their success stories and challenges  as well as the Agriculture Value Chain - fulfilling the needs of the buyers, that is the supermarkets and exporters.

Guest speakers/advisers range from expert farmers to Agriculture Value Chain members. Farmers now have the opportunity to seek advise from each guest adviser.With this opportunity they have access to answers pertaining to the following topics: banking, transport issues, and concern buyers. Besides the regular advise from the guest speakers, the programme also provides training courses such as how to work in and develop a value chain.

To read more on connecting our local farmers, click the following title: Talk about shared experience