Good morning, thank you for joining us today as we announce a very special opportunity for Bahamian farmers. Our Ministry has been working collaboratively to secure international partnerships in order to transform of our agricultural sector.

Last year in my Minister’s Report on Agriculture and Marine Resources, and before that in my contribution to the Budget Debate 2020/2021, we shared the vision for the development of an Agri-Village designed to put researchers, growers and producers in the same area to help catalyze agriculture production and grow the development of value added agricultural output. The various production systems will be data driven. Imagine farmers with the access to the scientist, being able to sell their produce to producers who in turn, would be able to develop value added products manufactured to world standards all in the same area.

That project is in motion and we are pleased to have the assistance of the Volcani International Partnerships one of the world’s most respected agriculture related NGOs out of Israel joining us on this journey. Volcani International Partnerships creates global partnerships and programs to offer advisory services, capacity building, Research & Development and technology transfer to bring Israel's vast experience and expertise to partners around the world. They will be critical to our development of the Agri-Village. This relationship will facilitate our goals of equipping our farmers with the knowledge needed to advance the sector.

Today, I am pleased to announce that Volcani International Partnerships and the Caribbean Israel Leadership Coalition are introducing a Certificate in Smart Farming for all farmers, Agri-prenures, investors and stakeholders across the Caribbean. 1,000 participants from throughout the Caribbean, including The Bahamas will receive a free scholarship for this valuable program. All training material will be provided to all participants across the region. Needless to say, this is an amazing opportunity for Bahamian farmers and agri-investors.  The certification course will be conducted through a series of webinars over the course of four weeks and will cover the following topics:

1.      Introducing Israel’s agricultural experience

2.      A general introduction to Smart Farming

3.      Agricultural robotics

4.      Smart Farming for irrigation and water management

5.      Smart Farming in greenhouses

6.      Smart Farming and Vertical Farming

7.      Smart Farming for Post-Harvest crop management

8.      Smart Farming for Crop protection

9.      Smart Farming for Livestock

10.  Smart Farming in Open Fields

11.  Smart Farming in Orchards

12.  Food traceability including blockchain and its applications for improved food quality and safety

13.  Introduction to Israeli Smart Farming high tech solutions and start-ups.

To apply for this opportunity, please log on to the ministry’s Facebook page or the website at www.bahamas.gov.bs. I encourage all farmers to log on to take advantage of this opportunity and I urge your swift action as the scholarships will only be available to 1,000 participants throughout the region.

Thank you.