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FSWSaba has initiated a project called SABAGRO and a partnership with the Wageningen University and Research Centre in The Netherlands to facilitate research and advice on agriculture. SABAGRO will encourage landowners to re-use their properties for growing plants, enable retail-shops to offer some cheaper local products of good quality, encourage a small agro-industry for preservation of fruits and vegetables, ultimately reduce dependency on imported products and stimulate vocational education in this area.
The initiative will try to identify locations on Saba that are economically and technically viable for gardening, necessary measures to support old farms and possibly new locations, choices of growing products that will thrive and are in local demand and synergies of local actors to create a lively and endurable new market for local fruits, herbs and vegetables. The overall goal is to create agricultural cooperation and a commercialization venue in Saba that will make the island more self-supporting.
The input of stakeholders is important if not essential to the success of the efforts. One of the questions to be addressed is, of course, how large the demand is in Saba. The research will benefit from concrete feedback by hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and institutions such as Old Age Home, Meals on Wheels and the like.
Questionnaires have been distributed to residents asking for details of their weekly needs for vegetables, herbs and fruits. Electronic questionnaires can be e-mailed to sw.saba@yahoo.com.
Source: “The Daily Herald” 2012-09-06
