Download - The Seedling - Issue 3

The Seedling

April 2014 – Issue 3

Newsletter Contents

Pg.

View from Project Management

2

Understanding Community Needs 3

Parlays and Panchayats 5

Interview with Mark Boneo 8

Sharing the Experience 11

Monitoring and Evaluation 13

What’s coming up 15

“Although the agriculture sector is currently plagued with issues that hinder its

development, I think with the change in the current conversation about farming and the increased involvement of NGOs and youth,

the sector will progress.”

- Mark Boneo, Lopinot Village young farmer

Fresh, local tomatoes for sale in Grand Found Road

A View from Project Management

Dear Readers,

Thank you for subscribing to the 3rd issue of The

Seedling which gives you updates of our work with

farming communities in support of sustainable

agricultural production in the Northern Range under the

EcoAgriCulture 2 project. We invite you to take a read

and gain insight into our work over the past couple of

months!

In February 2013, TCF received a grant from the UNDP

GEF Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP) to undertake a

new project ‘Building Small Scale Farmers’ Capacity to

Implement Sustainable Farming Practices in Trinidad’s

Northern Range’ which is being done with farming

communities in the Lopinot, Santa Cruz watersheds, or

EcoAgriCulture 2. The overall goal of the project is to

build capacity of small-scale subsistence farmers within

the Northern Range to implement sustainable farming

practices, explore opportunities for improving

livelihoods and food security, and reduce the negative

environmental impacts of poor farming practices on

hillsides.

For 2014, TCF has been placing significant focus on

building partnerships with communities and

stakeholders. Building relationships and trust amongst

farmers and community members are crucial to

promoting buy-in of any community-focused

interventions for improved environmental management

and sustainable agriculture.

We have also been working with the Lopinot and Grand

Found Road, Maracas Bay communities to improve their

community governance framework, with specific focus

on farmers. See pages 3 and 5 for more information on

our community engagement strategies and

strengthening community governance mechanisms.

TCF has also been promoting sustainable agriculture,

environmental management and community

development as viable and relevant employment

opportunities for young persons under the

EcoAgriCulture project. We have recently engaged

young people to commence internships in technical

assistance for implementing sustainable farming

practices and knowledge management and

communication activities. We are also in partnership

with various tertiary education institutions in the form

of in-field internships under the EcoAgriCulture 2

project. See page 11 for more details of our newest

interns.

In this issue we also highlight Mr. Mark Boneo a young

farmer in the Lopinot area. Mr, Boneo tells us about his

interest in eco-friendly farming and what he hopes

EcoAgriCulture2 can do for farming in Lopinot; Page 8

Sasha Jattansingh

Project Manager, EcoAgriCulture 2

Pg 2 The Seedling │ Issue 3

Understanding Community Needs

In looking back at the successes and lessons from the

first EcoAgriCulture project, which focused on primarily

the technical implementation of sustainable farming

practices, TCF concluded that a focus on community

engagement and strengthening would be critical in the

next round of project design and implementation.

With this thinking, EcoAgriCulture 2 places equal

emphasis on community empowerment, particularly

farmer groups and organisations within the selected

project areas. Research has shown that the

sustainability of such initiatives is vastly improved when

the community buys into the work, and this buy-in is

only sustainable if the various groups responsible for

community governance are effective and strong.

The Lopinot and Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay

communities are similar in that each community has

several groups that play a part in the governance of

these communities – from general community/village

councils, to farmers’ organisations, to women’s groups

and so on. In both cases, the farmers’ organisations

have been through many different stages of growth

since their inception, with both organisations admitting

to being slightly stagnant for many years and

attempting to stimulate a resurgence, to be helped by

this project.

While TCF understands that overall community

engagement is necessary and the involvement of the

umbrella community governance mechanism (the

community/village councils) is critical, the resources

and timeframe of the project has prompted a focus on

the farmers’ organisations with lateral engagement of

the umbrella organisations within the community. The

project has involved the farmers’ organisations in

Lopinot and Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay in a very

participatory and organic way, from the development

and design of the project and its deliverables itself, to

the way forward in the implementation of the project’s

activities.

The focus of the community governance aspect of the

project, is on the How, Why and What aspects of

community governance – Why does the group think it

should be better governed; What does the community

group need to be more effective; and How can TCF and

the group work together in building its governance.

In attempting to understand what the groups need to

better self govern, the project built a framework around

three key elements:

1. Looking at the group as a formal organisation

with behavioural and dynamic elements;

2. Participatory information gathering; and

3. Utilising traditional and culturally relevant

methods of community engagement.

In looking at the community group from a ‘firm’

perspective, the project used a model of thinking that

was loosely based on the McKinsey 7S model of

organisational effectiveness and its 7 interconnected

elements of effectiveness that are separated into the

‘Hard’ (Strategy, Structure and Systems) and ‘Soft’

elements (Shared Values, Style, Skills and Staff). In this

model, the ‘Hard’ elements are easier to define and

impact, while the ‘Soft’ elements are often less tangible

and more difficult to impact in the short term. In

moving forward within the life of the project, the

immediate initiatives will focus on the ‘Hard’ elements

of the farmer organisations and their development.

In developing a participatory and culturally relevant

approach, TCF uses constant contact and relationship

building with the farmers and the communities by

regular visits and visits that are sometimes done to

simply visit and catch up. This has led to a much greater

level of trust than would have been possible through

regular workshops and more formal gatherings. The

relationships that have been built have also been

strengthened by the gradual positioning of community

members and farmers into project leadership roles. One

good example of this is the use of community members

and farmers as chairpersons and master of ceremonies

for workshops and meetings, which facilitates easier

and more in-depth participation by fellow community

members.

TCF has also attempted to revive some older and more

traditional methods of community engagement apart

from the more conventional workshop and meeting

approaches. Two types of engagement, the ‘Panchayat’

and ‘Parlay’ have been utilised in both communities.

These approaches, born from the East Indian and

French Creole traditions respectively, and were used as

a form of local government for generations. The use of

these two methods has proved very successful at

generating interest, attendance and participation by not

only farmers, but the wider community.

In both communities, it is clear that most members still

share a very deep-rooted connection to the history and

traditions of the community and care about the future

prosperity and development of their family and friends

within their community. They speak strongly about their

self-reliance and ability to decide what is best for them,

but they recognise that there is always room for

improvement and learning in their own self-

determination and self-governance.

A cross-section of community

members and events in

EcoAgriCulture


Parlays and Panchayats

The third stakeholder workshops for both communities

were held on March 15th (Grand Found Road, Maracas

Bay) and on April 10th (Lopinot) which took the form of

a Panchayat and Parlay respectively. These approaches

are based on the traditional systems of decision making

in the communities as told to the project team by the

members of the community. In short, these methods

are based on the overriding principle that the

community should decide what their needs are and how

they should be addressed, through open discussion and

consensus.

In both communities, these community led forums were

attended by 30+ community members and stakeholders

who participated in discussions that centred on the

challenges and issues faced by Lopinot and Grand

Found Road, Maracas Bay with respect to sustainable

agriculture and community development on a whole, as

well as the steps and opportunities that they envisage

can be taken and leveraged to mitigate these issues and

meet some of these challenges.

Some of the challenges are shared between the two

communities, and can be seen to be national concerns

for communities and farmers in general. Some of these

overarching issues are:

Land tenure;

Availability of labour;

Ageing farming population;

Competition and access to markets;

Maintaining the effectiveness of a community

group.

In the Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay community,

much of the focus was placed on the organisational

elements of the group that fall within the ‘Hard’ section

of the 7S framework of organisational effectiveness. It

can be inferred that since the group has been in

dormancy for several years, these elements are critical

for development if the group is able to move forward; if

these foundational elements are not in place, focusing

on the softer elements of effectiveness in governance

would be futile.

In Lopinot, where the farmers’ organisation has been in

existence for a long time and has been active and well

defined, many of their opportunities have focused on

the elaboration of some of the ‘Soft’ elements in

support of their vision for the community such as

training and market development for their tourism

products. As opposed to Grand Found Road, Maracas

Bay, the Lopinot farmers’ organisation has established

structures and systems for governance, and so feel

themselves able to focus on some of the external issues

that are relevant to their development and

sustainability.


Some of the primary issues for Lopinot include:

Encouraging eco-friendly farming practices;

Link agriculture to food security;

Greater community togetherness and unity to

deal with community issues;

Revive cocoa and coffee heritage in Lopinot;

Promote value addition in agriculture;

Promote eco-tourism opportunities in Lopinot;

Develop a Lopinot brand e.g. Lopinot chocolates

The project will therefore focus its facilitation and

capacity development initiatives on the following

themes in Lopinot:

Encouraging youth participation in agriculture

and the farmers’ group;

Development of value added agriculture and

products;

Eco-tourism and other sustainable livelihood

options.

Several generations of Grand Found were represented at their Panchayat


Some of the primary issues for Grand Found include:

Flooding and poor drainage;

Lack of infrastructure to access farms e.g.

bridges, roads;

Limited training and employment opportunities

for youth in Grand Fond Road;

Limited use of the Maracas Bay Community

Centre;

Access to markets, including markets which are

nearby the community.

The project will therefore focus its facilitation and

capacity development initiatives on the following

themes in Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay:

Organisational Development;

Registration and Structure;

Understanding group management and

governance;

Building partnerships.

Nick, a Grand Found Road farmer, chairs the Panchayat in March 2014


Interview with Mark Boneo Through EcoAgriCulture 2, we at TCF have had the opportunity to meet and get to know the wide array of

people and personalities that live in the Lopinot and Grand Found Road, Maracas Bay communities. The team

here at TCF is constantly amazed and enriched by the stories, experiences and friendships we have made over

the past year. One of the best surprises to date has been meeting Mr. Mark Boneo, a young experimental

farmer who is finishing up his high school studies with the hope of furthering his academics over the next few

years and developing his agricultural business in Lopinot. The following is an interview with Mark about his

hopes for himself, Lopinot and the country.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Mark Boneo and I live in the beautiful

community of Lopinot. I am 17 years old and I am

currently pursuing management of business, accounting

and environmental science at St Mary's College. I am a

farmer and operate within the Lopinot area. I represent

the Youth Ambassadors of Trinidad and Tobago and

most recently I have been selected as the Youth

representative for Vision on Mission at the United

Nations.

Mark’s aquaponic system at his home in Lopinot


How did you become interested in

agriculture?

In Lopinot, agriculture is not just a means of food

production but is part of the way of life. Having grown

up within that culture, I have developed a passion for

agriculture. Additionally about a year ago I had the

opportunity to visit a fully automated Aquaponics

system and greenhouse in Colorado. Exposure to this

technology blew my mind away and motivated me to

start farming. Moreover, the issue of food security in

T&T and the Caribbean region at large has also led to

me asking myself the question of, "who is going to

provide food for our population in the future?”.

We’ve constantly heard that agriculture is

unattractive to young people. Why do you

think this is such a widespread opinion?

Agriculture may be unattractive to young people for

various reasons. Traditionally agriculture has proven to

be labor intensive and costly with minimal returns.

Additionally, agriculture has been ranked very low on

the social strata, therefore most parents deter their

children from it. Moreover, the complexity of

agriculture has been greatly underestimated. The fact

that agriculture is very exciting and full of scientific

processes is often overlooked and replaced with the

idea that agriculture merely involves planting a seedling

and picking its fruit. Therefore young individuals are not

motivated to become farmers because it is seen as an

obsolete, unprofitable and boring occupation.

Additionally individuals are unaware of the modern

technological advances in agriculture and how

profitable, productive and exciting it is.

How can we then encourage more young

people to get into the agricultural sector?

Although encouraging youth in agriculture may be

challenging it is still very possible and needed.

The first step it to deal with the perception issues. This

is by no means a quick fix but it is possible. In my

training as a Bold Leader/ Youth ambassador I have

learned to positively influence perceptions via

conversational projects. It involves changing one's

normal conversations about agriculture to a totally

different direction with minimal effort. For instance

when the conversation arises about how labor intensive

agriculture is, individuals may also talk about how

important farmers are to the food security of T&T. Once

this is done by a few individuals, it would cause ripple

effects and before you know it, the conversation about

youth in agriculture in T&T would have taken a whole

new direction, where perhaps farmers are appreciated

for what they are really worth.

Other factors that may encourage young individuals to

become farmers are governmental incentives. Although

some may argue that there are a vast amount of

incentives offered by the government, it is very difficult

to attain with all of the bureaucracy involved.

Therefore is it almost impossible for these grants to be

utilized by the young farmers.

What do you think Lopinot needs to ensure

its agricultural legacy continues?

(In short there are several key needs which are)

Land Ownership - a major prerequisite when

accessing government incentives and loans;

Access roads to farms- most farms are located

on the hillsides and access to farms are very

limited ;

Coaching in the fields of sustainable production,

marketing and entrepreneurship in general ;

Pg9 The Seedling │ Issue 3

Youth involvement in farming- Lopinot has a

large population of young individuals and they

need to pick up the baton.

What are your thoughts about the future

of farming in Trinidad and Tobago?

Although the agriculture sector is currently plagued

with issues that hinder its development, I think with the

change in the current conversation about farming and

the increased involvement of NGOs and youth, the

sector will progress. Additionally through globalization

and the internet, current and potential farmers are now

able to access technological discoveries in the field of

agriculture at their fingertips.

How do you think the EcoAgriculture 2

Project can influence farming in Lopinot?

I think the EcoAgriCulture 2 project has a very important

niche with regards to the current state of farming in

Lopinot. One of the major issues mentioned is the

ability of the farmers to market their products.

Currently farmers are paid very little for their produce.

Therefore as The Cropper Foundation, through

EcoAgriCulture 2, seeks to identify markets for Lopinot

products, this should potentially encourage members of

the community (young members in particular) to

become farmers.

What’s next for Mark?

Well hopefully within the next few years I will have my

BSc in Finance and have opened my own company that

provides environmentally friendly and healthy food

products that are affordable to the average person in

T&T and the Region as a whole.

Do you have any closing remarks for our

Readers?

Farming can be exciting, fun and rewarding. It is also an

opportunity for youth entrepreneurship and the

diversification of our nation's economy.

Mark Boneo, Lopinot farmer/student/young

leader


Sharing the experience

TCF was built around the idea of giving back to the

community that has sustained it for so many years;

mentorship and providing a space for young people,

being a primary tool through which this is done.

The EcoAgriCulture 2 project follows this ethos by

facilitating the participation of young persons with an

interest in the themes that this project covers. These

internships are both informal and academically based,

that run from actual implementation activities to

communication and social media management.

The project interns have been working now with TCF for

approximately 4 months, both in-house and in the field,

and shown time again that they are committed to the

cause...we’ve definitely made a few good choices!

TCF has formalised a relationship with the University of

Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) which is meant to be a long

term partnership. In this first phase, TCF has developed

internships for three (3) students in the Food Science

and Technology Programme at UTT, to assist on the

EcoAgriCulture 2 project in order to complete their

respective programmes. These interns are:

Donna Phillip

Patrice Williams

Sheryllann Farmer

TCF has also gained some in-house interns who are

working with us on both blogging and graphic design:

Elizabeth Massy (blogging)

Shahad Ali (blogging)

Joash Berkeley (graphic design)

We have also facilitated the involvement of

postgraduate students from the University of the West

Indies (UWI) in completing a community needs

assessment for Lopinot, as part of their postgraduate

course in Sustainable Rural Development. This work

also informs our own community engagement and

development activities. These students are:

Jai Rampersad

Roselin Moncher

Ezaquiel Da Costa Babo

Brent Georges

Karina Atisha Ali

Tracy James

Donna-Marie Renn

Angela Ramkissoon



Our UTT Interns at Grand Found Road

The UWI and UTT interns in discussion at Lopinot Lopinot parlay participants

Monitoring and Evaluation

To date the implementation of various activities under

the project has been according to schedule since we

started in February 2013. We have developed six

milestones to help us and our stakeholders assess the

progress of the project. These are:

Milestone 1: Establish Technical Team for the Project

Milestone 2: Baseline Assessment of farming

communities in selected watersheds

Milestone 3: Participatory planning exercises for the

design of intervention strategies

Milestone 4: Implement Community Governance

exercises in selected watersheds

Milestone 5: Implement sustainable farming practices

in selected watersheds

Milestone 6: Scoping study of local market for eco-

friendly agricultural produce

The chart below tracks our progress in achieving these

milestones to date.


The chart below tracks our spending against UNDP fund disbursements, and also counterpart (TCF) funding.


The Cropper Foundation

Building 7

Fernandes Industrial

Centre

Laventille

Port of Spain

Contact: Sasha Jattansingh, Project Manager

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +868-626-2628/2564

www.thecropperfoundation.org

The Seedling Creative Team:

Editor: Omar Mohammed

Articles: Sasha Jattansingh, Omar Mohammed

Pictures: Mark Thomas, Shango Alamu

In partnership with:


mailto:[email protected]

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