Call for more schools to take part in Agrofest

New things are on the horizon for Agrofest 2018.

So says CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), James Paul, who addressed members of the farming community, the media and other specially invited guests at the Pinnacle Feeds Agrofest 2017 Awards Ceremony, held under the theme of ‘Agriculture 50 Years and Beyond’ at the Dining Club, Building #11, Newton Industrial Park, Christ Church.

He said that chief among these plans is the need to work with participating schools in order to get more students to attend and to encourage other schools who may not regularly send representatives to the event to come out as well.

“And talking about the future, we have some really special things to go on this year. Agrofest is going to be all year round because what we recognise is that it is not just an event. It is the activities that lead up to the event. It is that in the same way that these farmers that you see here work extremely hard in terms of trying to prepare their animals, prepare their products, you know, to come to Agrofest, we recognise that we need to work with stakeholders in the schools in order to encourage them to be able to attend,” it was noted.

Paul said that the team at the BAS have already started to work out ways to address some of the challenges such as transportation that may hinder schools from sending out more students.

“So one of the things that you will see going through this year as a result of this year’s Agrofest, is an attempt to actually get the schools involved in projects to help those schools so that what we will see at Agrofest in future years is a more effective presentation on the part of schools, in terms of the activities, that they are involved in agriculture,” he explained.

The BAS CEO stated that it is not that the schools are not doing enough already, it is just that they would like to see an increase in both their attendance and participation.

“I don’t want you to think that the schools are not doing a lot. They are doing a hell of a lot there. I really think that we sometimes do not take the opportunity to appreciate that contribution that they are making. I really want to say to you that that is one of the efforts that we will be making and of course, we have enlisted our board members, our farmers, in terms of that particular effort – in terms of trying to get those schools involved."