IICA Grenada launches backyard gardeners network

  The Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) officially launched the first Backyard Gardeners Network Initiative (BGNI) in Grenada with a practical training session on the elements in the backyard.

 It falls under the IICA Regional Project ‘Soil-centric actions for strengthening food system resilience and promoting regenerative agriculture as a climate solution in the Caribbean’, a release from IIC states.

The objectives of the initiative are to strengthen the technical capacity of community members for increased backyard production through a ‘backyard garden demonstration’ training; and strengthen the co-ordination among backyard gardeners to improve food security in their communities through the development of a Networking Platform.

 This Networking Platform is a WhatsApp group to which the backyard gardeners have registered where information, skills and best practices in the backyard will be exchanged.

 The training was conducted on the site of a backyard gardener at La Digue in St Andrew. IICA Grenada teamed up with the owner of the site to convert a portion into a model backyard garden which will serve as a demonstration plot.

 The 30 participants at the training came from throughout Grenada; however, the parishes of St. Andrew and St. George had the largest numbers present.

 They were exposed to the essential elements in the backyard for food security and also had hands-on training on the use of compost, soil preparation, planting and planting distance, crop rotation and the use of medicinal plants in the backyard.

The sustainability of this network will be supported by Grenada’s Ministry of Agriculture Extension Department by providing the required technical and economic advice for production in the backyard.