The Seedling (Issue 2, December 2013)

The Seedling

December 2013 – Issue 2

Newsletter Contents

Pg.

View from Project Management..........

2

Stakeholder workshops....................... 4

Interview with Ramnarine Rampray..... 6

Sharing the Knowledge........................ 9

Scoping the market for eco-products... 10

Monitoring and Evaluation.................. 11

“Growing our own food is critical for the country and farmers are important members of productive society. We (farmers) should be recognized for the hard work and contribution that we make. For the future I hope that farming will be more sustainable, safe and healthy...and I hope that we can reduce the use of chemicals on farms and we can utilize better farming methods which are chemical free and less expensive.” - Ramnarine Rampray, Grand Found Road Farmer

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A View from Project Management

Dear Readers,

Thank you for subscribing to the 2nd issue the

Seedling newsletter which provides updates of our

work with farming communities in support of

sustainable agricultural production in the Northern

Range. We invite you to take a read and gain

insight into our work over the past couple of

months!

In February 2013, TCF received a grant from the

UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP) to

undertake a new project ‘Building Small Scale

Farmers’ Capacity to Implement Sustainable

Farming Practices in Trinidad’s Northern Range’

which is being done with farming communities in

the Lopinot, Santa Cruz and Aripo watersheds, or

EcoAgriCulture 2. The overall goal of

EcoAgriCulture 2 is to build capacity of small-scale

subsistence farmers within the Northern Range to

implement sustainable farming practices, explore

opportunities for improving livelihoods and food

security, and reduce the negative environmental

impacts of unsustainable hillside farming.

The Baseline Assessment study which was

undertaken since April 2013 for the Lopinot, Aripo

and Santa Cruz Valleys was completed in October

2013. This study included an assessment of the

potential economic and environmental impacts of

the adoption of more environmentally sustainable

hillside farming practices in these valleys.

Stakeholder Workshops were held in for Lopinot

and Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay (which is part

of the Santa Cruz watershed) in October 2013. The

purpose of these workshops were to continue to

build relationships with the Lopinot and Grand

Found Road communities and provide project

updates of EcoAgriCulture 2, including validating

the results of the Baseline Assessment. See Page 4

for more information on these workshops.

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In November 2013, TCF received approval from the

UNDP GEF SGP to include a new project activity,

“Scoping a local market for eco-friendly agricultural

goods” under EcoAgriCulture 2. This six month

study will commence in December 2013 and was

developed based on needs voiced by farmers for

improved access and new markets for their eco-

friendly agricultural produce, and recognition of

the higher costs associated with implementing SFPs

should be reflected in the prices paid by

consumers. More details of this new project

activity can be found on Page 10.

For 2013, TCF has been placing significant focus on

knowledge management and the development of

appropriate, strategic and more targeted

knowledge management activities and products in

order to increase the impact and visibility of the

Foundation’s work. We have recently completed

our Knowledge Management Strategy for our

Sustainable Land Management Programme. See

Page 9 for more details on knowledge management

at TCF.

In this issue we also highlight Mr. Ramnarine

Rampray a well-known farmer in Grand Found

Road community. Mr. Rampray tells us about his

experiences in farming, and what he hopes

EcoAgriCulture2 can do for farming in Grand Found

Road, Maracas Bay; Page 6.

Season’s greetings from all of us at The Cropper

Foundation and all the best for 2014!

Sasha Jattansingh

Project Manager, EcoAgriCulture 2

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Stakeholder Workshops at Lopinot and Maracas Bay

In October 2013 we held stakeholder workshops in

the Lopinot and Santa Cruz Valleys in order to

continue building relationships with the farming

communities and to provide updates of

EcoAgriCulture 2. The main findings of the Baseline

Assessment study for Lopinot and Grand Found

Road was presented and validated by community

members and also served as a forum to discuss the

challenges, opportunities and priorities for farming

in Santa Cruz and Lopinot.

The workshops were different in each community.

In Lopinot, the workshop was held at the Lopinot

Community Centre and was more formal, with

Powerpoint presentations and a live performance

by an organic percussion band, the Jewels of

Nature and an original song by one of the project

consultants, Dr. Shango Alamu. Twenty six persons

attended the workshop, including farmers,

community members, government agencies and

representatives from the GEF Small Grants

Programme.

At Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay, the workshop

was held under a shed against the backdrop of a

farm. Nineteen persons attended the workshop,

which was a mixture of informal presentations and

discussions amongst attendees. Despite the

different modalities of delivery, both workshops

were highly interactive and encouraged open

dialogue amongst farmers, members of The

Cropper Foundation and other representatives.

At the workshop, farmers and other

representatives determined the priorities for

implementation of sustainable farming practices,

as part of EcoAgriCulture 2 in a participatory

manner for each watershed. The following are the

priorities determined for Lopinot and Santa Cruz

Valleys:

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Lopinot Valley

Promote new farming practices that would reduce the build-up of pests and disease over a 5-year period

Encourage the development of new local markets for ecologically friendly produced agricultural goods

Train Extensions Officers in sustainable farming practices so they can communicate new ideas to farmers; a

Support Farmer Organizations that cannot only apply for farmer’s causes but can increase market opportunities

Santa Cruz Valley

Encourage the use of new non-chemical pesticide formulations on farms

Create Opportunities for farms to recyle more of their farm wastes as on farm inputs

Train Extensions Officers in sustainable farming practices so they can communicate new ideas to farmers

Help resolve Tenure issues and increase on-farm investment.

The setting of priorities for the Lopinot and Santa

Cruz valleys will guide the implementation of the

next set of activities under EcoAgriCulture 2,

particularly the design of intervention strategies

which commenced in October 2013 and is being

spearheaded by Dr. Shango Alamu, on behalf of

The Cropper Foundation.

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Interview with Mr. Ramnarine Rampray, Grand Found Road Farmer

We caught up with Mr. Ramnarine ‘Cokes’ Rampray – the Public Relations Officer of the Grand Found Road

Farmers Association, and a long-time farmer in the Maracas Bay area - for a quick chat about his experiences

in farming, and what he hopes to see from the EcoAgriCulture 2 project.

How did you become interested in farming?

I am a third generation farmer. My grandfather and

my father were farmers. My father introduced me

to farming when I was younger and passed down

the knowledge, techniques and methods he used

on his farm. Farming is in my blood.

How do you think farming has changed from your

grandfather’s and father’s time to present?

In my father’s time, I remember that farmers

applied very little chemicals to their crops. They did

not use fertilizers or pesticides unless necessary

such as if you had mole cricket infestation. The

most common pesticide formulation was

something called 13-13-21. Today, chemical

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fertilizers and pesticides are used heavily on farms,

including my own. Sometimes I wonder if it is safe

to eat the produce that I grow because I know the

amount of chemicals I have to apply to my crops.

Would you like your children to become farmers?

I think that farming is one of the biggest gambles.

Farmers are gamblers. There are risks associated

with crop quality and quantity, risks with the

weather and pests and diseases. Also, when you

get the crops to the market, one of the biggest risks

is the inconsistent market price you will receive on

a given day. The prices fluctuate all the time and do

not take into account the high input costs, labour

and time required to grow these crops. Because of

these issues, I do not want to encourage my

children to become farmers. Farming is hard work

and high costs with little profits and high risks.

However, if they are interested in learning about

farming and working the land I will train them.

What do you think is the biggest issue facing

farming in Trinidad and Tobago today?

Farmers in Trinidad are heavily reliant on chemicals

– fertilizers and pesticides to grow their crops. You

can solve almost any problem that you have on

your farm with chemicals. I can tell you there is a

difference in how fruits and vegetables taste when

they were grown without chemicals and with

chemicals. The food my father used to grow used

to taste natural and full of flavour than the food I

grow with all the chemicals I have to use. I

definitely believe that farmers need to be educated

on suitable alternatives in order to reduce the

heavy use of chemicals on their farms.

Can you tell me what you consider are the top

needs for Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay

farmers?

Farmers in Grand Found Road need better road

access to our farms. We have been trying to get

the authorities to address this situation but we

have not been successful. Poor roads and

sometimes no roads make it very difficult to get

the produce out from our farms. Famers in

Maracas Bay also need improved drainage since

during the wet season, flooding is a problem and

we do not have proper bridges to access our farms.

Farmers here are willing to engage in self help

activities to improve the roads and drainage but we

would require the materials and equipment from

the relevant agencies.

What are your thoughts about the future of

farming in Trinidad and Tobago?

Growing our own food is critical for the country

and farmers are important members of productive

society. We should be recognized for the hard work

and contribution that we make. For the future I

hope that farming will be more sustainable, safe

and healthy. I hope that we can reduce the use of

chemicals on farms and we can utilize better

farming methods which are chemical free and less

expensive.

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How do you think the EcoAgriculture 2 Project

can influence farming in Grand Found Road?

I am very positive about this project and this

collaboration with farmers here and The Cropper

Foundation. I hope that this Project would educate

and assist farmers to try better farming practices,

especially concerning the use of chemicals on their

farms. I also hope that The Cropper Foundation will

continue to work with Grand Found Road so the

benefits can be felt in the long term. Many projects

have been started here but once they are

completed, the organizations just leave with no

follow up. I hope that this project will be different

and we see positive results.

Do you have any closing remarks for our Readers?

I just wanted to let people know that I love

farming. I was involved in farming since I was a

child. Farming is hard work but enjoyable. My hope

for farming is that it can be profitable and farmers

can make a comfortable living for themselves and

their families.

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Sharing the Knowledge

In 2014, TCF will celebrate a decade of involvement in sustainable land management, from both the technical and social aspects, with a gradual movement towards the incorporation of economic considerations. With this experience comes a wealth of information, data and knowledge – both in house and through our wide network of collaborators; from farmers to academics and everyone in between.

Through this work, one of the primary issues faced was the lack of available knowledge – and if such applicable knowledge existed, there lacked an appropriate mechanism or tool to identify and disseminate stakeholder-specific knowledge. In addition, the modification and replication of lessons learnt would be beneficial to other countries in the Caribbean who will have to deal with, if not already, with pressing issues of land management in the face of increased development.

It is our hope that TCF will be seen as an

indispensible partner through:

the creation of an indispensible repository for sustainable land management knowledge and expertise that is able to inform and promote the relevant SLM thinking at the community, national to regional levels (and even internationally);

the development of procedures and methods for generating stakeholder-specific, value driven knowledge management material and tools, that directly contribute to the knowledge base of the sector; and

targeted and coherent branding of TCF’s SLM programme through consistent communication between and among TCF and relevant stakeholders, ensuring that the TCF SLM brand is instantly recognisable in the context of sustainable land management.

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Scoping the Market for Eco-Goods

TCF is pleased to announce that the GEF SGP

UNDP approved a new project activity entitled

“Scoping a local market for eco-friendly agricultural

goods” to be undertaken as part of the

EcoAgriCulture 2 project.

EcoAgriCulture 2 seeks to address the technical

difficulties associated with adopting sustainable

farming practices (SFPs) of Northern Range small

scale farmers. However, these farmers have

expressed a need for assistance in accessing and

creating markets for such goods to ensure that the

higher costs associated with SFPs are reflected in

the prices paid by consumers.

This new project activity aims to address a key

marketing question faced by farmers who adopt

SFPs “How do we put the right eco-friendly grown

product in the right place, at the right price at the

right time?” to ensure sales and provide a

sustainable income.

This question will be addressed through a

combination of consumer surveys, producer focus

groups and targeted interviews of costumers in

order to identify the right ‘product’ (specific crops

types and farming practices) the right ‘price’ (what

premium consumers are willing to pay) and the

right ‘place’ (a specific farmers market vs.

supermarkets vs. a dedicated eco-section in a

General Market).

This component will also crucially identify the

challenges associated with eco-markets faced by

producers, consumers and middlemen such as

supermarket associations and small business

owners in order to develop recommendations on

supply chains that address these challenges. A

review of regional and international experiences in

developing these markets will also be conducted.

The project team believes that results of this new

activity will provide benefit well beyond this

project as it will be developed into a technical

paper that will be used by other famers who desire

to enter the eco-produce market in Trinidad and

Tobago and across the wider Caribbean.

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Monitoring and Evaluation

To date the implementation of various activities under the project has been according to schedule since we

started in February 2013. We have developed six milestones to help us and our stakeholders assess the

progress of the project, which includes the new project activity, approved in November 2013. These are:

Milestone 1: Establish Technical Team for the Project

Milestone 2: Baseline Assessment of farming communities in three selected watersheds

Milestone 3: Participatory planning exercises for the design of intervention strategies

Milestone 4: Implement Community Governance exercises in selected watersheds

Milestone 5: Implement sustainable farming practices in one of the selected watersheds

Milestone 6: Scoping a local market for eco-friendly agricultural goods

The chart below tracks our progress in achieving these milestones to date.

0 20 40 60 80 100

Milestone 1

Milestone 2

Milestone 3

Milestone 4

Milestone 5

Milestone 6

Percent Completed

Project Milestones (M1 to M10)

Planned

Actual

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The chart below tracks our spending against UNDP fund disbursements, and also counterpart (TCF) funding.

$0.00 $25,000.00 $50,000.00 $75,000.00

SGP Funding

Counterpart Funding

Amount Spent

Project Spending (M1 to M10)

Actual

Planned

The Cropper Foundation

Building 7

Fernandes Industrial

Centre

Laventille

Port of Spain

Contact: Sasha Jattansingh, Project Manager

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +868-626-2628/2564

www.thecropperfoundation.org

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The Seedling Creative Team:

Editor and Graphic Designer: Omar Mohammed

Articles: Sasha Jattansingh, Omar Mohammed and Alexander Girvan

Pictures: Mark Thomas and Peter Poon Kwong

In partnership with:

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

The Seedling (Issue 2, December 2013)