By Dionne Best
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – The government of Barbados sees the establishment of the Dukes Agri-Industrial Park in St Thomas and the Barbados Institute of Food and Agriculture in St Lucy as a tremendous investment that will help to strengthen food security, minister of training and tertiary education, Sandra Husbands, expressed after a recent tour of both facilities. The minister noted that Barbados continues to develop its partnerships, and these facilities have been “a gift to the people of Barbados by the Chinese.”
According to Husbands, there are 28.5 acres and approximately 13 buildings at the complex at Dukes, which will be given over to The University of the West Indies for the purpose of agricultural research. They will be used to innovate, develop new products, provide skills training in various areas that are important for agricultural production and agro processing – all with the goal of assisting Barbadians in being able to develop export-led growth in agriculture and agro food processing.
“So, there’s going to be a continuous relationship between the ministry of training and tertiary education and UWI in that effort at Dukes. What we’ve had over the time that it has been under construction, we’ve been able to set up a number of the buildings.
“At the moment, the government is now installing the electricals and a couple of other utility services for the property, and then the Chinese are going to finish the building in providing us with a number of additional elements to help make that project work really, really well. So, we’re very pleased that we are continuing that process to bring us to completion,” she disclosed.
The minister also sought to reassure the public that the project at Dukes had not been abandoned.
“While we were sorting some problems, we were able to get Hope started. So, Hope is well on the way. Hope is going to be our Agricultural Institute that will help to provide Agricultural Science training for students at the tertiary level, and this will help replace the efforts that are ongoing at SJPI, BCC, BVTB, all gathered in one division.
“It is our hope that eventually that Agricultural Institute will become part of our University College. So, Barbados is now set to be able to reach out and refresh and renew our farming community,” she shared.
Husbands pointed out that many farmers are over the age of 55, and the ministry hopes that the establishment of these two agriculturally focused institutes will refresh the country’s farming population by offering young people the opportunity to learn smart climate agriculture, give them the opportunity to specialise in any area of agriculture that they’re interested in, and retool the existing farmer population.
“Along with that, we’ll be able to provide the ministry of agriculture with all of the skills that they need. We have a relationship that we’re building with the University of the West Indies at St Augustine, and this will allow us to offer from a general certificate through to a diploma, … a bachelor’s degree, master’s [or] postgraduate studies.
“All of these will now be available to Barbadians right here in Barbados and in conjunction with St. Augustine UWI… so, we are looking forward to receiving the property at Hope,” she stated.
Minister Husbands expects that the Hope facility will be available by September, and classes will commence in January of next year.
“We hope to have the Dukes project completed by early 2026 and the University will be able to start their training, their research and innovation, and to provide the support and collaboration between Hope and Duke to strengthen the Barbadian agricultural industry; to ensure that we have food security and that we provide meaningful careers for our young people in every aspect of agriculture.”
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