It is often said, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
But the late Dr Eric Williams also famously said, “The future of the nation is in the children’s school bag.”
The Ministry of Youth Development and National Service has borrowed a bit from both of these idioms, as they have sought to address some of the country’s food security concerns by encouraging the youth to turn to the fishing industry via its Youth Aquaculture Project.
Ajala Pilgrim, marketing technical coordinator project, told the Business Guardian that the programme was created and launched as a direct way to resolve the country’s existing food security problem “by giving young people the opportunity to learn the technical expertise required to become an 21st Century agricultural entrepreneur, presented by the University of the West Indies and The Ministry of Youth Development and National Service.”
Pilgrim explained that the programme was the third agricultural project conducted by the Ministry recently.
“The Ministry of Youth Development and National Service in the last couple of months or so, has launched a number of programmes, a suite of which includes agricultural programmes. So obviously coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Prime Minister) Dr Rowley understood the issues with regard to food security and the importation bill. The Ministry of Youth in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries has launched a number of programmes one of which is the Youth Agricultural Homestead Programme, which was launched last year May. Additionally, the Youth Agricultural Shade-house Project, which was launched last year, around October-November.
“The last one, which is the Youth Aquaculture Project, which was recently launched and we currently have the registration for that going on.”
Aquaculture is the cultivation of aquatic organisms in controlled environments for any commercial, recreational or public purpose.
Pilgrim explained, “The breeding, rearing and harvesting of plants and animals takes place in all types of water environments including man-made ‘closed’ systems on land”.
This, Pilgrim explained would help reduce overfishing complications.
The registration for the programme was initially set to be concluded on July 19, but it has been extended to July 28, as the Ministry is hoping to ensure the programme is well subscribed.
The programme is set to begin in September.
He said, “Part of our mission for this new project is creating and building relationships with businesses such as yourself in helping to expose young persons to the opportunities in agriculture and create stakeholder relationships. We have seen much success with two of our other Agricultural projects; the Youth Agricultural Homestead Programme and the Youth Agricultural Shade-house Project.”
The project is aimed towards students who recently completed their CXC exams and are now seeking to find their way into the working world and will also grant them a stipend so that an income can be generated as they develop those skills.
The participants of the programme will receive a certificate on completion.
“What we are doing is trying to focus a lot on persons between the ages of 16 and 20, in particular, which will be persons who would have just written CXC as well as persons who would have just written CAPE. So I looked up all marketing efforts as one in that particular direction. But I would say so far, we have been getting impressive feedback. We have been getting a lot of phone calls. And so far a lot of questions via social media,” Pilgrim said.
The project is free of charge and will expose young persons to areas such as breeding, raising and harvesting fish, shellfish and aquatic plants.
“There is no cost to the students or the trainee. The course will be covered by the government of Trinidad and Tobago. Additionally, students who are accepted into the programme will receive a stipend for attending classes. Because the programme is done in conjunction with the University of the West Indies, it will be at the St Augustine campus where they will be doing the theoretical aspect of the training.
“And then the practical aspect, they will move to existing places that already have the infrastructure for aquaculture and these type of programmes. Because we do expect that students maybe coming from far areas, far east, far south and central trying to come to UWI. So what we are providing is a stipend of $160 for students so that they can have money for transport and you could have money for your meal when they come to the classes because it is a full time programme. We expect that students will attend every class. So there is no cost to the students,” explained Pilgrim.
The practical aspect of the course will take place at the Sugar Cane Feed Centre – Aquaculture Training Centre in Longdenville. The mandate of this Centre in Longdenville is to demonstrate, train, develop and teach agricultural production systems for sustainable food production and food safety.
With this project, the Ministry is hopeful that the fishing industry will be revitalised, as it was recognised that the country did have an aging agricultural and fishing sector.
“One of the major issues we have is our aging farming population. And we have known for many years that T&T has never really been much of our agricultural country. So a lot of effort has been placed in particular for youth to be a part of these programmes because a lot of people have asked, well, how come this programme is not coming through the Ministry of Agriculture, but it is our collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, but definitely we want the focus to be in particular on youths,” Pilgrim explained.
The project is also set to teach participants skills meant to reduce the risk of overfishing.
It is hoped that when the programme is finished, the participants will bring what they have learnt to various fishing communities and facilities to ensure that the industry’s output can be maximised.
“Obviously a part of that comes with collaboration with existing businesses such as Carenage Fish Facility and do specific spaces on obviously a lot of these farmers with the expect that a lot of people are interested in this. These programmes or this programme in particular will come from traditional fishing communities Carenage being one so we expect that a number of persons living in that area will be a part of the programme and you expect that when they graduate, they will now try to get back into their communities, get back into their businesses and see how they will be able to contribute to the existing businesses in these places,” said Pilgrim.