Photo: Christopher Serju. Retrieved from jamaica-gleaner.com
AS THE five-day regional coconut workshop, ‘Sustainable and Resilient Coconut Production within a Changing Climate’, came to a close yesterday, the testimony shared by Guyanese participants revealed a glimpse into how the cultivation of coconut rose from obscurity to a priority in their country.
Eusi Simpson, the Caribbean Agricultural Research Development Institute (CARDI) Guyana coconut technician explained that the nation had an ailing coconut industry prior to the introduction of the Alliances for Coconut Industry Development, Expansion, and Enhanced Support for the Caribbean (ACIDES) project, during a technical session held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
The project, which is funded by the European Union (EU), is nearing the conclusion of its second phase, which started in 2019. The first phase of the project started in 2014.