FAO and PROCASUR initiate a peer-to-peer activity to strengthen the associative capacities of farmer organizations in Grenada

With the theme "Come up in the Value Chain! Moving the businesses and organizational capacities of farmers organizations", the National Learning Route was launched on Monday, August 28. This activity is part of the Programme “Farmers’ Organizations for the ACP”, financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and implemented by FAO and PROCASUR.

The opening ceremony was attended by Honourable Senator, Mr. Roderick St. Clair, Representative of Farmers and Fisherfolk in the Upper House of the Grenada Parliament, who explained the importance of developing business capacities: “this learning experience is about how can we empower the organizations to able to negotiate their way through all the challenges, how do they engage the markets, how do they engage input suppliers.”

Also, this first day of the Learning Route was attended by Mrs. Lauren St. Louis, FAO national correspondent and representative of the Ministry of Agriculture who highlighted the importance of learning about experiences and peer-to-peer exchange: “The journey ahead will not only expose us to the best practices and success stories,  but will also encourage us to critically examine the complexity of development issues. Through interactive sessions, field visits, workshops and engaging dialogues, we will delve into real world scenarios that professionals like you face in your respective fields. As you learn from one another, we will collectively explore avenues for innovation, inclusive growth and sustainable development”

During the route, 16 representatives of 11 rural farmers organizations in Grenada and 6 members of farmers groups from Barbados and Dominica will be able to exchange best practices with two national organizations: The Grenada Network of Rural Women Producers (GRENROP) and The Grenada Co-operative Association (GCNA). The participants will learn about best practices at the business and organizational level, which will enable them to improve their ability to manage their associations in order to improve their participation along the value chains.

The representative of Procasur, Mrs. María José Araya, indicated that one of the results of this Learning Route will be the development of an Innovation Plan that “aims to help consolidate and add value to existing initiatives through the implementation and adoption of innovative mechanisms and tools learned during the Route”

Mr. Pedro Boareto, FO4ACP Project Coordinator, mentioned the importance of this initial space for exchange to build a roadmap for FO4ACP's support to organisations, valuing associative capacities for inclusive rural transformation.

The Learning Route will run until Saturday, September 2 and will serve as another step for the FO4ACP project implemented by FAO and Procasur in the Caribbean, to promote the improvement of the associative and entrepreneurial capacities of family farmers in Grenada.