Sandy Point Agricultural Co-operative Making small but Impressive Steps

Post a comment Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 05, 2012 (SKNIS): Farmers in Sandy Point are making small but impressive strides as they celebrated the society’s 2nd anniversary recently. One of the highlights of a successfully held week of activities was a town hall meeting held in Sandy Point under the co-op’s 2012 theme: “Better preparations, Better Results.” The meeting saw presentations by a number of different stakeholders in Agriculture. In opening remarks, president of SPACS Lionel Stevens said he was pleased with the attendance to the meeting, as it showed that in Sandy Point, there is support in feeding the nation and promoting food security to eradicate hunger from St. Kitts and Nevis. He said for him “2” was a special number, for it not only showed that they had passed the first stage in their efforts and had not given up, but were also on the move upward. Meshach Alford, Senior Physical Planner in the Ministry of Sustainable Development said Sandy Point, like other locations throughout St. Kitts and Nevis has an assigned land use development plan which gives serious consideration to the promotion and protection of the health and safety of the residents of each area.  He explained that it was important for lands to be zoned to determine the most appropriate areas for agricultural activity. Eric Browne, Communications Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture in congratulating the Sandy Point Agricultural Co-operative on its 2nd anniversary said St. Kitts and Nevis still has a long way to go in utilizing the opportunities that are available in Agriculture.  Just the amount of food that is currently being imported into the Federation is an opportunity to expand operations here. “The fact that Dominica and other places still bring fruits and vegetables here by boat” said Browne, “means there is a market.” According to Browne, fruit and vegetable production in the Federation is not enough to supply the demand for more than half of each year.  He mentioned agro-processing and agro-tourism as two other ways upon which opportunities in tourism can be capitalized. A thirty minute question and answer session generated a healthy discussion on different issued raised from presentations made. The evening’s event came to a close with the reciting of a poem “Agriculture” by Wrick Lennon and a vote of thanks by Damian Woodley. Other activities for the week were panel discussions at specific schools, tree planting, radio programmes and  a Raffle at the Sandy Point Public Market. source:http://sknlist.com/community/20120305c.html

SPACS Ltd Celebrates 2 years

Sandy Point Agricultural Co-operative Society Celebrates 2 years

 

Written by MiyVue.com Staff WriterPosted On: Monday, 05 March 2012

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Basseterre, St. Kitts, (Monday 5th March, 2012) - Farmers in the Sandy Point Agricultural Co-operative Society, (SPACS), recently celebrated the organization’s 2nd anniversary with a week of activities.

One of the highlights was a town hall meeting, held in Sandy Point, under the co-op’s 2012 theme: “Better preparations, Better Results.” The meeting saw presentations by a number of different stakeholders in Agriculture.

In his opening remarks, president of SPACS Lionel Stevens expressed satisfaction with the high level of attendance, as it showed that in Sandy Point, there is support in feeding the nation and promoting food security, to eradicate hunger from St. Kitts and Nevis.

He said for him “2” was a special number, for it not only showed that they had passed the first stage in their efforts and had not given up, but were also on the move upward.

Senior Physical Planner in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Meshach Alford said Sandy Point, like other locations throughout St. Kitts and Nevis has an assigned land use development plan which gives serious consideration to the promotion and protection of the health and safety of the residents of each area. He explained that it was important for lands to be zoned to determine the most appropriate areas for agricultural activity.

Eric Browne, Communications Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture in congratulating the Sandy Point Agricultural Co-operative on its 2nd anniversary said St. Kitts and Nevis still has a long way to go in utilizing the opportunities that are available in Agriculture. Just the amount of food that is currently being imported into the Federation is an opportunity to expand operations here.

“The fact that Dominica and other places still bring fruits and vegetables here by boat” said Browne, “means there is a market.”

According to Browne, fruit and vegetable production in the Federation is not enough to supply the demand for more than half of each year. He mentioned agro-processing and agro-tourism as two other ways upon which opportunities in tourism can be capitalized.

A thirty minute question and answer session generated a healthy discussion on different issues raised from presentations made. The evening’s event came to a close with the reciting of a poem, “Agriculture”, by Wrick Lennon and a vote of thanks by Damian Woodley. Other activities for the week were panel discussions at specific schools, tree planting, radio programmes and a Raffle at the Sandy Point Public Market.