CREAD hosted the first of a series of meetings aimed at bringing together major players as collaborators, to determine the way forward for the agro-processing sub-sector in Dominica to fully thrive

​CREAD Fosters Collaboration Among Agro-Processing Stakeholders For the agro-processing sub-sector in Dominica to fully thrive.It is critical that all stakeholders are on the same page and are aware of all that is occurring in the industry.To this end, the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD), hosted the first of a series of meetings aimed at bringing together all the major players in the sub-sector to determine the way forward in a collaborative manner.
 
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry, DEXIA, Dominica Bureau of Standards (DBOS), AID Bank and NCTE. Agro-processing has been a constant fixture on Dominica’s agriculture landscape; however, it has primarily been a cottage-based industry, barring the exceptions of enterprises such as Bello and Dominica Coconut Products, whose brands have become internationally known.
 
Discussions centred around the wide cross-section of initiatives currently being undertaken to enhance the sub-sector which include: Production of cassava and toloma have long been grown in these communities given their ability to flourish in the marginal soils and more importantly, the livelihoods of these communities revolve around the growing and processing of these crops. Composite bread trials have already been held with three bakeries utilizing cassava marsh, showcasing the potential for the product and the importance and need for these processing facilities.
 
It was further determined by the meeting’s participants that given the vast amount of work being undertaken in this sub-sector, a clear roadmap to prevent duplicity of projects in locations around the island needs to be developed. Additionally, agreements on food safety and Good Management Practices (GMP) must be accepted & adopted in the agro-processing industry.