The Governments of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, in conjunction with the European Commission (EC) and the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), have launched a consultancy for conducting a Regional Annual Agricultural Review. Funding for this consultancy was secured under the Special Framework of Assistance 2006 (SFA 2006) financing instrument which is currently being administered by the FAO under the auspices of the EC. An Inception Workshop, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, FAO, and WHITCO Inc. was held at the Dominica Public Service Union Conference Room on Friday 24th Apri, 2009 to kick-start the process.

Among those in attendance were representatives from various farming associations, DEXIA, IICA, agro processors and other key stakeholder organizations in the agricultural sector. Mr. Hesdie Grauwde, FAO Policy Advisor, informed the audience that he was pleased to see the commencement of this timely and important activity and stated that Dominica, Grenada, St Vincent and St. Lucia in conjunction with the EC had agreed to use the FAO as the implementing agency for a number of agriculture related projects funded under SFA 2006, SFA 2007, and SFA 2008. Mr. Grauwde further stated that these three funding instruments provided funds in excess of 3 million euros for agriculture related projects such as the Regional Agricultural Annual Review.

Mr. Eluid Williams of WHITCO Inc. who has been engaged as a consultant by the FAO to prepare the 2008 National Annual Agricultural Review Report for Dominica addressed the gathering and commended the Ministry of Agriculture for having commenced this initiative and further explained that the findings of this report would provide pertinent information for measuring the impact of the significant investments that have been made in agriculture over the 2008 period. During his presentation Mr. Williams gave an elaborate review of how the report would be perpared and the various stakeholder organizations that would be engaged during the thirteen week exercise. Mr. Williams also stated that the report would include, among other things: the policy objectives for crop and livestock production; the role of colloborative and donor agencies in the development of agriculture over the 2008 period; farming systems with relation to production, export and marketing; crop and livestock production statistics; credit and investment facilities for agricultural producers; and the impact of Public Sector Improvement Projects geared at enhancing agriculture. Mr. Williams further stated that though the scope of the consultancy is very broad he is looking forward to working with the various stakeholder agencies and is confident that the report will be completed within the 13 week alloted period. In response to this, Permanent Secretary for Agriculture, Mrs. Claudia Bellot, and other members of the audience assured Mr. Williams that their respective organizations were poised to provide any assistance that he would require towards the successful completion of this important national exercise.