Caribbean Rural Women Producers Set for Knowledge Exchange Visit to Kenya

In a joint effort to strengthen the business and advocacy capacities, representatives from the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers (CANROP) are embarking on an exchange visit to Kenya. The visit, that took place from 30th September to 4th October 2024, is part of the broader "Farmers’ Organization for Africa Caribbean and Pacific (FO4ACP)" programme, implemented by FAO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (FAO RLC), PROCASUR, with the support of IFAD, the European Union, and the Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP).

This South-South exchange visit to Kenya, organized together with FAO’s Office in Kenya, focused on promoting and strengthening CANROP’s organizational strategies, advocacy capacities, and networking skills. CANROP’s Representatives from 6 countries in the Caribbean had a chance to engage in discussions with Kenyan women farmers and agricultural organizations, learning from their best practices in youth engagement, access to finance and partnerships, market development and digitalization.

Key activities of the exchange included field visits to key agricultural projects and innovative enterprises from Kisumu county, in Kenya, such as the Onyx Cal J Women Group, a self-help group dedicated to sustainable agriculture in Homa Bay County, and Flexigas, an innovative biogas company providing renewable energy solutions for households and businesses.

“Women in Kenya bear the most responsibility of almost all farming, production and even disaster response.” Highlighted Hamisi Williams, Programme Assistante of FAO’s Office in Kenya

Also, the Championing Women in Agriculture Exchange Workshop offered a platform for CANROP members to exchange and to get to know the trajectories of Kenyan organizations, their successful practices, emphasizing their roles as women leaders shaping agricultural policy and community empowerment.

The impressions from the members were very positive as stated ms. Theresa Marecheau, representative from the Grenada Network of Rural Women Producers’, one of CANROP’s National chapters: “I learned a lot! I’m impressed by the way Kenyans keep it together despite their challenges and struggles. As CANROP, we need to step up in the food sovereignty policy, our voice is missing in this policy discussions.”

The activities allowed the interaction between the members, and facilited the establishment of relationship that will go beyond this activity, as highlighted by Ms. Gloria Cave, from Barbados: “We saw a good picture of where we can intervene and lend support to have people help themselves. We need more sharing of information and learning from each other.”

The outcomes of this visit will be documented in a comprehensive Exchange Learning Report, which will guide CANROP in enhancing its support for rural women in the Caribbean, enabling them to navigate the challenges of sustainable farming and market access and will be available in FAO’s Regional Technical Platform on Family Farming.