Published 18 October 2024
Buckie Got It
St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
TOP FARMERS AND FISHERS RECOGNISED FOR THEIR AGRICULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS DURING THE ANNUAL WORLD FOOD DAY PRIZE GIVING CEREMONY
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, October 18, 2024 (SKNIS) – The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources took time on Thursday, October 17, 2024, to celebrate the outstanding efforts and contributions farmers and fishers make to food security in St. Kitts. This was done through the staging of the annual Farmers and Fishers Prize Giving Ceremony.
Joining the farmers and fisherfolks at this year’s ceremony at the Carambola Beach Club were Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, the Honourable Samal Duggins, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Miguel Flemming, and staff of the agriculture department.
Minister Duggins, during his featured remarks, said the annual prize giving ceremony is one of the avenues whereby his ministry is able to demonstrate its appreciation to the members of farming and fishing community for their invaluable service to the nation.
“A lot of time credit isn’t given where it is due because it is you the farmers and fishers, the food heroes and sheroes who ensure that our nation is properly fed, who ensure that our economy is driven by local agricultural production,” Minister Duggins said.
“Here in this country we have dedicated farmers who wake up a the crack of dawn in most cases, dedicated fishers who go out and brave the waves day after day to ensure that we real healthy foods on your tables, and that’s why I call them food heroes and sheroes,” the minister added.
Minister Duggins also used the occasion to urge the people of St. Kitts and Nevis to make healthier choices by consuming more fresh locally produced goods.
“We need to eat more of what we grow,” Minister Duggins said. “We don’t have to go out and eat all those tin and bottled foods when we have green bananas, ripe bananas, dasheen and all the different variety of produce right there.”
Awards were then presented in three categories; Crop division, Livestock division and Fisheries. At the end of the night, Darwin Francis was awarded the FAO Fisher of the Year 2024 award. Leon Anthony captured the Crop Farmer of the Year award, while the Livestock Farmer of the Year award was presented to Cervin Bradshaw.
Crop Farmer of the Year Leon Anthony receives his award
The prize giving ceremony formed part of the Ministry of Agriculture’s World Food Day Week of Activities which ran from October 12 to 18, 2024, under the theme “Right to foods, for a better life and a better future.
