I met Hon. Emma Hippolyte, OBE, CGA, CFE, the Minister of Commerce, Business Development, Investment and Consumer Affairs of Saint Lucia, a lovely island country in Carribean Seas.
She explains the 4 elements of the country’s policy, and one of which is attracting youth to agriculture, despite the fact that they are huge on tourism sector. One of the sub-policy for food security, the topic of ITC WEDF, is the programme “youth land lease”. Where the price of land is too high for early starters in agriculture, the government is surely foreseen a great impact on food security. The government is also giving impulse to school system towards this.
A great stuff, if only district government of Pulau Bangka, an island I recently visited, could learn from Saint Lucia. The youth in Pulau Bangka is more into tin mining, called TI, tambang inkonvensional, a name for the so-called illegal mining. The price of food is too high, mostly exported from nearby provinces like South Sumatera or even Banten other parts of and the rich-cultivative Java island.
Bangka, a potential island for white-sand beach tourism, tasteful exotic culinary visits, and also a great rain forest island, must have such visionary policies like Saint Lucia. I learn more here and here.
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public policy, media & me 