Caribbean Rural Women from ten countries to strengthen the creation of social capital in farmer organizations

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has combined efforts with the International Trade Centre (ITC) SheTrades Initiative to support women in overcoming gender-based obstacles in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Twelve rural women from the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers (CANROP) membership including Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago are now better equipped with soft skills such as conflict management and effective communication strategies. These new skills are a result of a joint five-day training workshop between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CANROP held in Panama from 11 to 15 July 2022, implemented under the Programme Farmers Organizations for ACP (FO4ACP).

The aim of the Training Workshop was to empower farmers and their organizations by focusing on strengthening the women’s ability to work together at the regional level and in their national groups. The training comprised of 16 sessions and was facilitated by CANROP Members, who received a two-month long training course to prepare them for their facilitator role. The contents of the sessions were both people-focused and process-focused and the discussions focused on tools and strategies to identify and build strong leadership, working together to reach consensus based on a shared vision, and to effectively manage conflict in complex organizational environments.

Carmen Nurse, CANROP President stated that, “This workshop has provided a roadmap on how we, the executive members, can improve our present management structure and guidance of the farmers and organizations. We have received the keys for governance using the ‘social capital theory’, which is people working together as groups.

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