Digital Village Initiative set to improve rural agriculture livelihoods in The Bahamas
In our current global environment, with threats to food security, rising food costs and other challenges, digital agriculture technologies are no longer regarded as novel approaches but needed approaches.
In The Bahamas, the FAO's Digital Village Initiative, will prioritize remote and rural communities, enabling farmers to tap into digital agriculture solutions. Innovation in agriculture will improve the way our food is produced and transported to the tables of those we supply.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and The Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs, are working to set up Digital Territorial Village. A launch event was held for farmers and other agriculture stakeholders in Eleuthera on Wednesday February 7, 2023.
The Digital Village forms part of the MAMR and FAO’s joint national priority to build the capacity of the Bahamian government to create an enabling environment for the adoption digital agriculture solutions and scale innovations for rural farmers.
In addressing the farmers at the event, FAO Representative in Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize, Dr. Crispim Moreira urged them to embrace the changes from the Digital Village Initiative. “I encourage you farmers to be open to this change. This is an opportunity to integrate your traditional knowledge and use the technology as vehicle to improve on what exists. To be clear, no technology can replace, the rich local and traditional knowledge that farmers have relied on for decades. What it will do is enhance and improve the practices and techniques for you to reap more benefits, and of course more profits from your efforts.”
The project will work with the private sector to identify, implement and adapt digital agriculture solutions along targeted value chains identified by the Ministry of Agriculture. Stemming from this collaboration, a major expected output will be the creation of Territorial Digital Centers which will be supported by public-private partnerships and local alliances.
The digital centers will be set up within a cluster of rural communities and will also be designed to offer a full complement of services towards a robust digital ecosystem. The centers are expected to be a hub for a digital consulting service, a rural and agricultural ecommerce platform and a digital financial service. The digital hubs will serve as the catalyst for stronger rural-urban linkages and drive the transformation of a more sustainable agri-food system and an innovative agribusiness sector.
Dr. Moreira asserted that “rural agricultural development is on the rise”. The FAO representative further mentioned some economic benefits of the increased connectivity to rural areas. We are embarking on an economic, social and cultural revolution. This digital ecosystem will build bridges from the local to the global. A perfect example of this is the project’s ecommerce platform that will connect farmers to more markets and opportunities to sell produce at fair prices”.
At the national level, an Agribusiness Policy and legislative framework will be developed to advance the growth of the agriculture and fisheries sector with particular emphasis on agro-technology. The collaboration between national stakeholders, led by the Ministry will also produce a strategy for digital agriculture extension services that will target 30 extension officers to be trained in digital agriculture extension services.