Transcript Group 2

An overview of agricultural
information services in the
Caribbean
Presented by:
Kathryn Duncan
Information & Communications Specialist
IICA Office in Trinidad and Tobago
The Caribbean Region
CARICOM (Caribbean Common Market) and IICA
Member States
 Antigua & Barbuda
 Haiti
 The Bahamas
 Jamaica
 Barbados
 St. Kitts & Nevis
 Dominica
 Saint Lucia
 The Dominican Republic
 St. Vincent & the Greandines
 Grenada
 Suriname
 Guyana
 Trinidad & Tobago
Agriculture in the Caribbean
 Agriculture had fallen in stature as a mainstay of the
economy and way of life however, with the effects of
globalization, agriculture is once again being seen as
a key contributor to or a source of:
 Food security
 Export earnings
 Poverty alleviation
 Sustainable development
Regional studies on
agricultural information needs
 Needs assessment of agricultural information needs in the
Caribbean. CTA/CARDI. 2005.
 Available on www.anancy.net
 Inventory and assessment of agricultural information
systems in the Caribbean region. IICA. 2007
 Introduces the rationale and framework for an M&E system
that will try to pull all types of information together in a
common framework to provide a more holistic analysis of the
“situation in agriculture” in the Caribbean.
 Inventory of information sources and resources by country.
General Statement
 Inspite of several national and regional efforts,
current information and intelligence systems in
agriculture are weak, incomplete, non-integrated,
with poor linkages between their various
components.
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‘Information’ one of the major binding constraints in the
Jagdeo Initiative;
MoAs still have underdeveloped capacity for building
and managing information systems;
Regional organisations still experience difficulties in
sustaining regional information systems.
Issues and Challenges
 Non-existent or weak information policies
 Failure to sustain regional information networks
 Coordination and reactivation of national networks has varying
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success:
 Dom. Rep; Guyana; Jamaica; Suriname; Trinidad and
Tobago
Gaps in information
Lack of qualified professionals in information units
Understaffed “one-person” units
Some limitations on ICT infrastructure
 There is still a lack of understanding and appreciation of
‘what’ and ‘why’ information is needed
General Statement
Actors in the agri-food chain engage in a
continuous search for information. That
information must be credible, timely and must
add value to the knowledge, experience and
sometimes ‘gut feelings’ of policy makers,
entrepreneurs, input and service suppliers and
other actors in the chain.
Agricultural information needs
as defined by sector1
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Science of agriculture and food production
Trade market information & market intelligence
Business finance & risk management
Socio-economic information
Environment impact and intensive natural resource
use
 Audience targeted information – conferences,
training, trade fairs, etc.
1
Inventory and Assessment of Agricultural Information Systems in
the Caribbean Region - 2007
The Users
 Policy makers
 Researchers
 Extension personnel
 Information professionals
 Producers
 Consumers
 The Media
The Providers
 Ministries of Agriculture
 National Libraries/Documentation Centres
 Research Organizations
 Academic Institutions
 Agricultural agencies (international, regional and
national)
 Networks, Industry Associations, Farmer Organizations
 The Media
Ministries of Agriculture
 Information Units, Communications and PR
Departments, Extension & Training Divisions, Planning
Division
 Typically - traditional library, or ‘documentation centre’
Strong in collection of information, generation of
information products, history of service, personnel and
ICT equipment.
 Capacity for training and audio-visual documentation and
presentation of information.
Ministries of Agriculture
 Other smaller libraries may also exist in specialised
organisations: research stations; commodity specific
research and extension organisations such as sugar,
coffee and cocoa; banana; dairy; cattle or small
ruminants.
 Generally, these units have operated under human and
financial resource limitations.
 Qualified staff, if present, are generally persons with
information and library science background.
 Repackaging of information to meet the specific needs of
the various consumers of agricultural information is done
outside of this system.
Academic Libraries
 Well-established university libraries  Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica,
Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
 Researchers, students, other libraries
 Loans, inter-library loans, document delivery services,
OPAC, library instruction, research consultations, reference
services, reprographic services, etc. online databases,
websites, public education
Regional/International Agencies
 Strong presence of regional and international agriculture
organizations in most Member States, e.g.
 Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute
(CARDI)
 Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
 Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
 Researchers, consultants; students; farmers; other
organizations; general public
 Access to a wealth of information sources and resources –
local, regional and international
 Training and technical cooperation activities
Market Information Systems
 Grenada: Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB)
 Jamaica: Agri-Business Information System (ABIS)
 Trinidad and Tobago: National Agricultural Marketing
Information System (NAMIS)
 Participate in the Marketing Information Organization of the
Americas (MIOA)
 The National Agricultural Marketing and Development
Corporation (NAMDEVCO – NAMIS) is the current Chair
of the MIOA
www.namistt.com
www.abisjamaica.com.jm
www.radajamaica.com.jm
Directory of Sources
 Directory of Caribbean Agricultural Information
Sources. 2009
 Association of Caribbean University, Research and
Institutional Libraries
 Coverage: English, French, Spanish and Dutchspeaking Caribbean
 Scope: Local offices of international and regional
organizations; Ministries of Agriculture; Chambers of
Commerce; Development Banks; Foundations;
Farmers Associations; Rural NGOs, Libraries and
Documentation Centres; Statistical Offices
 Limited print run – available on UWI website in
November 2009
The Media
 Plays a key role as an information provider
 TV, radio and newspapers – first and only point of
information for many agri producers and general
consumers
 Media-Agriculture sector relationship varies from
country to country
 Most report an increased coverage of agriculture
stories by the media from issues/challenges to
Government projects and agribusiness success stories
 Efforts to strengthen this relationship:
 Workshops – Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Brussels…
ICTs
 Infrastructure
 Generally very good access in MoAs, most institutions, homes
and Internet cafes. Some countries still have problems of
access – e.g. in rural areas.
 Usage
 Internet, TV, Radio widely used for disseminating and
accessing information and news.
 Heavy use of cell phones – formal and informal information
networks
 Content generation
 Websites – present – but not always current
 Web 2.0 tools increasing in popularity and use for
developmental, professional and personal use (formal and
informal)
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LinkedIn, Ning, Facebook, Blogger
SIDALC in the Caribbean?
 10 years behind?
 Need to fit the pieces of the puzzle together!
SIDALC in the Caribbean?
 Dominican Republic
 Red de Documentación e Información Agropecuaria y
Forestal-REDIAF 2000
 Jamaica
 Agricultural Documentation and Information Network
(JADIN) - 1999
 Trinidad & Tobago
 Agricultural Library and Information Network of Trinidad
and Tobago (ALINTT) – 2009 revitalisation
SIDALC in the Caribbean?
 Need to revisit the creation/reactivation of national networks – no matter
how small;
 Increase communication and interaction among national networks
 Share experiences
 Build capacities
 Increase collaboration to address problems of scarce resources
 Forge linkages with other stakeholders and the media to have access to
a wider range of information that exists
 Forge partnerships with some of our ‘traditional users’ who are now
sources of information themselves
 Need to be more innovative and creative as to how we gather, create
and store information and how we disseminate this to users – beAring in
mind the technogogies now widely available and accessible.
THANK YOU.