Welcome to Entrepreneurship World Cup Antigua and Barbuda 2022 Virtual Pitch Competition. The Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Center (GARD Center) was selected to be the National Host by COESL and Global Entrepreneurship Network Caribbean.
Antigua and Barbuda will be participating in this Global Competition, which provides an unique opportunity for the island to showcase some of our best innovative entrepreneurs.
The Center is pleased to have received a generous donation from ACB Caribbean for this very worthy venture.
Joyanne Byers, Senior Manager, Finance & Accounting at ACB Caribbean, presented XCD 3,000.00 to Executive Director June M. Jackson and Judy Dease-Richards, Life Skills Tutor / Business Development Assistant of GARD Center at ACB Caribbean’s Headquarters on St. Mary’s and Thames Streets, St. John’s, on Friday, 29 July, 2022.
11 Finalists will each have 3 minutes to show us why they should be the National Winner of Entrepreneurship World Cup Antigua and Barbuda 2022.
Evening training is currently ongoing at the GARD Center in Beginners Beekeeping sponsored by the Mill Reef Fund and Climate Smart Agriculture with Business Enterprise, Hydroponics and Backyard Gardening funded by the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) and the Sandals Foundation. These training sessions are held at the GARD Center in Mercers Creek from 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
During these 14 weeks of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) training, participants have been involved in Business Enterprise sessions to include Costing and Pricing, Communication & Marketing, Intellectual Property, Business Plan, Parasitology, Budding and Grafting and Vermiculture. These training courses and are now in their sixth week of training and the participants have been engaged in climate smart discussions and vibrant class sessions. As these courses progress, each participant is eagerly looking forward to more practical hands-on training and field work. In the weeks ahead, participants would also engage in Packaging and Labelling, Backyard Gardening and Hydroponics practicals along with field visits.
Group A – Sponsored by the Sandals Foundation.
Budding & Grafting
Group B- Sponsored by the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG)
Marketing and Communication
Vermiculture
Parasitology
Over 30 persons have shown interest in 12 weeks of training in Beginners Beekeeping of whom 25 participants are currently receiving the tools and hands-on training to prepare them to begin their apiaries. Each participant will receive the added component of Business Enterprise to include Packaging and Labelling to develop their brand and business idea. During the training participants have shown great enthusiasm in class sessions and a WhatsApp group was created to share information and ask questions to expand on their knowledge in Beekeeping. Each participant constructed their own bee frames and were outfitted with bee suits to carry out a field visit at the Urlings Primary School to remove a beehive. The bees were safely relocated to bee boxes and the honey extracted from the beehive was refined. The beeswax was used to make lip balm and other products and each participant received a sample.
12 Weeks of Training in Beginners Beekeeping sponsored by the Mill Reef Fund
Orientation Day
Orientation
Orientation Day
Making Lip Balm with Bee’s Wax
Extracting Honey
Making Lip Balm from honey
Assembling Bee Frames
Using A Bee Smoker
Students watching as how to use the bee smoker is demonstrated.
Field Visit to Urlings Secondary School to Remove Bee Hive
Participants assisted with the removal of a bee hive from the school.
Youth
Hydroponic Programme to Strengthen Community Food Production and Livelihood
Opportunities
The
GARD Center (Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Center) is a grassroot
non-profit, non-government organization which operates under the auspices of
the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA). The Center
is very pleased to announce its continuous partnership with the Sandals
Foundation through its funding of the “Climate Smart Agriculture For Youth-
Hydroponic” Project.
For
the past thirty-two (32) years, the Center has been working arduously with
at-risk youth, men and women in the community to engage them in various forms
of sustainable agriculture for the 21st century.
With
a primary focus of raising climate smart agriculture practices amongst young
people towards long term food security, the Climate Smart Agriculture for Youth
– Hydroponic programme seeks to:
Create awareness of the present and future
threats related to climate change and agriculture.
Make youth aware of the contributions they
can make in the agriculture sector for a better future, especially through
the application of climate-smart practices in agriculture, during this
COVID-19 period.
Train a total of 20 youth in hydroponics
systems.
Build the capacity of participants to
construct a hydroponic unit and provide a starter kit to include seeds,
rockwool and a water pump.
The
programme support forms part of the Sandals Foundation’s 40 sustainable
community projects being executed across the Caribbean to commemorate its
parent company’s 40th anniversary. Through its broad scale
investment in a number of farming and agriculture educational programmes, the
philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts seeks to strengthen the Caribbean’s food
security and livelihood opportunities.
About the Sandals Foundation
The Sandals Foundation is the philanthropic arm of
Sandals Resorts International (SRI), the Caribbean’s leading family-owned
resort company. The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization was created to
continue and expand upon the charitable work that Sandals Resorts International
has undertaken since its founding in 1981 to play a meaningful role in the
lives of the communities where SRI operates throughout the Caribbean. The
Sandals Foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and
the environment. One hundred percent of the monies contributed by the
general public to the Sandals Foundation go directly to programs
benefiting the Caribbean community. To learn more
about the Sandals Foundation, visit online at www.sandalsfoundation.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
This
partnership is in collaboration with the Agricultural Extension Division of the
Ministry of Agriculture, Inter-American Institute
for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The GARD Center will
expand its Climate Smart Agriculture programme that focuses on Hydroponics
systems.
GARD
Center salutes the Mill Reef Fund on its 75th Anniversary for all of the
incredible work it has committed to and achieved in Antigua and Barbuda.
During these years the Center has been tremendously blessed by the generosity
of the Fund which has allowed it to positively meet the needs of our clientele,
the vulnerable in its community (At-risk Youth and Women) and the mandate
to train.
When
COVID-19 arrived on the shores of Antigua and Barbuda in March 2020, the
country was placed under complete lockdown by the government and health
protocols were enforced. Many people, especially women and youth in the
workforce were severely displaced. The Mill Reef Fund
contributed significantly to the retraining and re-tooling of persons residing
in this twin island state. As the government slowly allowed for the
reopening of the Country internally with its citizens/ residents and its
borders to the wider community, many people, especially in the Hospitality
industry were out of work and experienced hardships in feeding themselves and
their families.
The
GARD Center saw this as an opportunity to offer training and /or retraining to
members of various communities. This mission was fulfilled by grant funds
received from the Mill Reef Fund to conduct Climate Smart Agriculture courses
with focus on Backyard Gardening and Hydroponics; as well as, Sewing Courses
for Beginners. These courses were selected because the unemployed could
quickly learn a skill and earn an income. Different Cohorts of training
had to be undertaken to observe the rapidly changing Health Protocols. 47
Participants graduated from the CSA training courses (26 M, 21 F). One
female has started her own Hydroponics farm and sells her produce. She has also
developed other products from the harvesting of her backyard garden.
(pepper sauce, etc.). Her husband works closely with her and now
constructs hydroponic units for sale.
49
Participants completed the Beginners Sewing courses with 47 F and 2 M
graduating. A 27-year old male who graduated has continued to develop his
sewing skills and is now enrolled at Antigua and Barbuda Institute of
Continuing Education (ABICE). This gentleman designed and created the
Wedding dress for this year’s annual ABS Valentine Wedding ceremony.
Ralstan Hughes, Designer & Creator of the 2022 Valentine’s Wedding Gown working in GARD Center’s Sewing Class
Many
of the graduates continue to flourish with their knowledge honed and are able
to earn an income.
In
addition, in 2020, the Mill Reef Fund provided Care Packages to 50 graduates of
the Center (single mothers) for 6 months. This benevolent gesture was
extremely well received by all.
Single Mothers Care Packages Distribution
The
Mill Reef Fund continued to serve this nation in 2021 when funding was received
by the GARD Center to conduct Remarkable Hospitality and Customer Service
Training as well as Basic Baking, Decorating and Food Preparation Courses.
A total of 18 people graduated, (14 F and 4 M).
Sincere thanks to the Mill Reef Fund for partnering with our Center in its delivery and upliftment of the Youth of this nation.
Source of Newsletter & collaborates with the GARD Center
Issue Description: In terms of project execution, the month of March was particularly pivotal. It represented both the end of the second year and start of the third and final year of the IICA-CBF EbA project. It also hosted a critical in-country mission of the IICA Soil and Water team to train farmers and technicians on Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) using a soil-centric approach, while simultaneously planning for the much anticipated training for the communities themselves to be able to operate community drone kits to collect data and monitor project sites. .
The IICA-CBF Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Project seeks to assist beneficiary Caribbean countries in their efforts to maintain and increase resilience and reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and people in the face of the adverse effects of climate change.
We would like to acknowledge some of the hard-working women who have contributed significantly to the development of the GARD Center over the past years and currently using a poem.
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
This issue features some of the women involved in IICA-CBF EbA project (N.B. from Antigua: Agriculture Science Teacher & Foreman in EbA project, Karen James and GARD Center’s Executive Director, June Jackson). We hope it provides food for thought to enhance, empower, enable and inspire more and better participation of women in actions for climate adaptation.
The IICA-CBF Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Project seeks to assist beneficiary Caribbean countries in their efforts to maintain and increase resilience and reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and people in the face of the adverse effects of climate change.
Ms. Anika Aska represented GARD Center as a Panelist on United Nations Joint Programme Building Effective Resilience for Human Security in Caribbean Countries: The Imperative of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in a Strengthened Agriculture Sector, is presently being implemented in the countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia. This programme is being implemented by UN Women, UNDP, ILO, and FAO with funding from the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS); very interactive and informative discussion which among regional representatives and specialists. (See the video below.)
