Vincentian Volunteer to attend US Fellowship Program

The Eastern Caribbean Trading Agriculture and Development Organisation (ECTAD CARIBBEAN) is a nonprofit, small farmers’ base rural development organisation launched in 1995 and operating in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with partnerships in the region. ECTAD’s aim is to create a sustained, economic and social prosperity for rural farming communities in the Caribbean.

ECTAD has sustained a small farmers marketing program since 2001, it comprises of over 300 small farmers in the rural areas of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The aim is to ensure the farmers hold a greater part of the agriculture value chain. In the year 2018, over 500,000 pounds of Taro/Dasheen were sold through our marketing program to two major European markets. As we endeavor to increase these numbers, our volunteer marketing officer submitted an application to the Cochran Fellowship Program.

We are pleased to announce that Ms Shaneé Wickham has been chosen to represent St. Vincent & the Grenadines in the upcoming 2020 Cochran Fellowship Program (CFP). The CFP is an international fellowship that provides short-term agricultural based training opportunities to professionals from developing countries for two (2) weeks 16^th February- 1^st March, 2020, in the United States of America; in areas relating to agricultural trade, agribusiness development and marketing.

The training’s objective is to improve the post-harvest capacities and marketability of Caribbean fresh produce, by focusing on strategies for the proper handling of fresh produce and support in post-harvesting technologies. Strategies that would be shared with the members of ECTAD marketing program along with the farmers and produce exporters here in St. Vincent and which allows our farmers to be in a better position to meet the demands of retail, food service, and export to the U.S market while meeting the required exporting standards.

We are seeking help to try and achieve the total funding needed for our volunteer by the 14^th February to ensure attendance at the training start date. The estimated program cost is USD$5,000.00. We thank you for your consideration and support.