vice chancellor’s retreat mona campus august 2009 1

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PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES IN AGRICULTURE

Vice Chancellor’s RetreatMona CampusAugust 2009

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Small island states with limited land masses

Relatively high labour costs

Vestiges of our historical past linked to an aversion to agriculture

Dependence on an oil/gas economy in T&T and a move away from agriculture towards the service sector (mainly tourism ) in most of the other CARICOM countries

The Binding Constraints *

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Lack of an aggressive breed of innovative agripreneurs

Periodical exposure to environmental stress (flooding, hurricanes and drought)

Decline in productivity of the land, labour and management in the agricultural sector resulting in a weakened capacity to supply food competitively.

The Binding Constraints

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Ineffective policies with respect to the sustainable use of the environmental resources

Poor/non-consistent national/regional agricultural policies

Loss of preferential export markets for agricultural products(sugar, banana

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Absence of both a well developed transportation infrastructure and relevant marketing institutions posing restrictions on intra-regional agricultural trade

Poor agronomic and forestry management practices that result in soil erosion leading to environmental degradation in general

Weak diversification efforts out of the plantation economy

Inadequate number of appropriately trained human resource


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Historical emphasis on export of primary products as against value added products along the value chain

Lack of an effective land use policy and land tenure for farmers

Poor rural physical infrastructure


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Limited awareness of issues related to global environmental changes and their full implications

Weak Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) system. This limits the scientific community to take advantages of any window of opportunity

Lack of agricultural risk insurance (agriculture is inherently a risky business)


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The propensity to set up counterpart institutions when they appear not to be functioning as expected without examining the real causes and applying corrective surgery. The existing institutions are then left to “die a natural death

Ineffective technical support for farmers(breakdown of extension services)

Lack of financial support for applied agricultural research and development (R&D)

Slow rate of introduction of and support for the application of new technologies


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WHAT IS YOUR ASSESSMENT OF UWI’S CONTRIBUTION TO REGIONAL AGRICULTURE?

HOW COULD UWI IMPROVE ITS SUPPORT TO REGIONAL AGRICULTURE IN LIGHT OF THE BINDING CONSTRAINTS ?

FINDINGS OF TWO DAY WORKSHOP ON THE WAY FORWARD FOR CARIBBEAN AGRICULTURE(12/08)

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Majority of agricultural personnel in Min. of Agriculture, agencies, private sector are UWI graduates(a success)

However, THE NUMBER being trained has declined over the years. Possible reasons???

Decline of agriculture in the region Rising cost of UWI training Increase in scholarship grants at foreign

institutions(eg Cuba)

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS

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Widespread perception that UWI students have good theoretical knowledge but often lack the practical competencies to function in the current caribbean agricultural environment

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS

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Graduates have not seen themselves as agricultural entrepreneurs which in part has led to the decline of agriculture in the region

Graduates not nurtured in an innovative environment and hence incapable of functioning in an innovation based society-creating innovation, technology development and having the entrepreneurial skills ,support and confidence to establish successful SME’s and add value along the agri-food change

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS

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The curriculum has not adequately changed to reflect the changing global environment, changing regional agricultural realities, or the changing S&T environment

UWI degrees have not set themselves philosophically apart from those offered by the other technical institutions

Programmes provide limited opportunities to learn from real life problem situations(internships, inter-institutional research programmes etc)

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS

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Inadequate MSc programme offerings to meet the needs of a modern regional agricultural system

MSc programmes not stakeholder driven

Need for more short courses delivered by the distance mode

Need to train more extension personnel

Research degrees should be based on practical problems or incubator models

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS(POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES)

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According to CARICOM:

UWI’S MANDATE- Human Resource Development

CARDI’S MANDATE- R&D

This contradicts with global realities where successful agri-enterprises are developed through multidisciplinary research teams and University –private sector collaboration

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS

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Lack of strong links with other CARICOM states (St. Augustine campus- a T&T focus)

Research not prioritized

Research not stakeholder-driven, not readily adoptable, not transmitted to end users

Research not along the entire agri-food chain

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS(Research, Innovation and Outreach

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Withdrawal of outreach personnel from the various CARICOM territories without a suitable alternative system

Research has not adequately incorporated futuristic technologies (gene technology, nanotechnology)in their research agenda

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS

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Graduate students not functioning in an innovation based environment, lacks entrepreneurial training

Graduate students do not perform well in multidisciplinary teams

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS

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UWI does not support the continuous education and training of agricultural officers or farmers

Inadequate distance programmes for further education and training

Lack of frequent regional workshops bringing experts from various fields to address problems faced in the region

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS (Short Courses)

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UWI should be actively involved in analysis of global and regional food and technology issues ,innovation policy, land policy or sustainability issues etc and provide policy support to CARICOM governments

Lack of services in sanitary/phytosanitary diagnostic services, certification services, regulatory systems etc

Lack of active involvement in commodity groups

STAKEHOLDERS VIEWS( Policy/industry support)

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PROGRESS BEING MADE IN ADDRESSING

THESE BINDING CONSTRAINTS AND STAKEHOLDERS PERCEPTION

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Could the present structure and

available

resources effectively respond to these

challenges?

Restructring the SOA

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The Present structure:

o Two Departments—o Food Productiono Agricultural Economics and

Extension(teaching also human nutrition and dietetics and human ecology)

Restructuring the SOA

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THE PROPOSED STRUCTURE Director Departments of : Livestock Science and TechnologyCrop Science and TechnologyAgribusiness and ExtensionFood and Nutritional SciencesNatural Resource Management

Restructuring the SOA to better respond to these challenges

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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE(Multidisciplinary research centre )

This restructuring was approved at Faculty Board/Academic Board and Campus F&GPC levels

Post of Director has been advertised at the professorial level and short list is being prepared.

RESTRUCTING THE SOA (The proposed Structure)

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It was agreed that the director should have an input before the rest of the restructuring process is continued.


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Bridging the disconnect between the Faculty of Engineering and the SOA-critical to coordinated research along the agrifood chain

The resources in Agricultural Engineering and Food Science and Technology(currently housed in FE) must be harnessed to work in sync with(integral part of) the SOA along the entire agri-food chain rather than as independent units without a common vision as occurs at present.(Principal/Deans have agreed in principle on the way foward)


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Integrating the Cocoa Research Unit into the mainstream of the FSA operations .(More UGC funding would be required)

The CRU must now play a key role in providing technical support for the revitalization of the region’s cocoa industry as well as in creating value added products(Progress has started in this context)


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RECALL:

Stakeholders have been highly critical of the agriculture curriculum as well as the skills and competencies of our graduates.

Graduates lack hands on experience-too theoretical

Progress Being Made (Curriculum Reform)

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Infusion of internships in all agriculture programmes(currently the case).However, longer internship periods required

Internships being carried out in conjunction with stakeholders in the other CARICOM region (a challenge)

Serious challenge finding appropriate placements for the large number of agribusiness/agribusiness and human nutrition and dietetics as well as general agriculture students.


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Length of internships need to be increased if it is going to have the desired effect.

Urgent need to move towards a four year degree programme

To effect meaningful curriculum would require significant funding for increased staffing in critical areas(eg biotechnology) as well as to upgrade the current poor laboratory facilities.


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Practical skills course will no longer be confined solely to activities in the laboratories and on the University Field Station

Involvement of other stakeholders in the provision of “On Farm Training Activities ‘ of our students. (E.g. Tucker Valley Mega Farm training to commence in September,09)


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New major in Tropical Landscaping from 2009

New MSc programmes in Tropical Horticulture and Biotechnology drafted and ready for approval

Other programmes being drafted include programmes in aquaponics, protected agriculture and organic farming

Progress Being Made (Curriculum Reform )

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Criticism of SOA: Lack of outreach to other CARICOM countries

MOU with Ministry of Agriculture, Grenadao Assistance with the revitalization of their

cocoa and nutmeg industry in progress

o Upgrading of their human resource at the graduate level in specific areas at the MSc, MPhil and PhD levels. Students time will be spent between Grenada and FSA.

Progress Being Made(Greater Stakeholder Involvement)

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MOU with CDA/Tucker Valley Mega Farm Project

Training of undergraduate students on the Mega Farm

Graduate students to pursue research projects specifically related to the Mega Farm

Collaboration in the commercialization of research done at UWI

eg production of cow pea for the school feeding programme(already in progress)-a significant achievement

Greater Stakeholder Involvement

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Working with Caroni (1975 Ltd) in providing technical assistance in developing the 7,500 two acre farms for displaced Caroni workers

MOU with EMPRAPA(final stages).

MOU with the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (China).This is expected to have significant impact on crop production as well as development of the UFS and the Orange Grove lands

Stakeholder Involvement

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AGRITECH-EXPO( 04/08)

Conference on “overcoming challenges to developing a sustainable agri-food systems in the caribbean(12/08)

Caribbean workshop at arriving at a consensus on the way forward for caribbean agriculture(12/08)

Involvement in World Food Day and Candle light vigil (FAO, Min.of Agri.,10/08)

Progress being made (Stakeholder involvement)

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Urgent need for the establishment of a “Regional Centre for research on food policy”

CARICOM mandate for UWI should be for HR development as well as research ,development and innovation.

CARDI should be the effective link between UWI and the ministries of agriculture/farmers(Dean and Executive Director has agreed in principle to this approach)

Progress Being Made (Policy )

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Full support /team effort of the other campuses involvement in various aspects of agricultural training if we are to seriously address these challenges

Greater involvement of scientists form the three campuses in agricultural research, development and innovation- but must be strategic and forward -thinking(foresigthing)

Exploiting the resources of CACHE Working in sync with all national innovation

centres

Urgent Needs (Increase in Critical Mass)

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Need to develop a triple helix model in which the governments, the private sector and the R&D institutions play a role towards developing a strategic, forward looking knowledge driven and technology based agricultutural sector. The governance model should be increasingly private sector driven but with collaboration with R&D institutions or innovation centres that can provide the necessary science and technology input to make the industry successful. The governments have the important role in providing an enabling environment for private sector investment

Conclusion

vice chancellor’s retreat mona campus august 2009 1

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