The Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) will give the Barbados Youth Action Programme (BYAP) a grant to jumpstart an agricultural project for 20 at-risk youth.
National coordinator at CYEN, Shannon Weekes, announced the launch of the initiative at the Climate Justice Workshop yesterday at Sugar Cane Mall in Roebuck Street, St Michael.
Weekes said the project was a step to let young people understand the risks of climate change and how they can counter it.
“CYEN has collaborated with the Barbados Youth Action Programme to create this project which will see 20 at-risk young people being educated on and sensitised to the issues of climate justice and climate change and how agriculture will be affected.”
She added young people should know how to protect their livelihoods since agriculture was important for food security and climate change threatened food production.
“In some parts of the world like the Caribbean, there has been a reported loss of agricultural productivity due to climate impacts such as drought, heavy rainfall, wildfires and increased incidences of pests, some of which are not known to the region.”
Keriah Scantlebury, a representative of the BYAP, said she hoped the project would encourage and inspire other young people in the Caribbean and listed the areas they wanted to address during the workshop.
“I hope our efforts can shine and encourage other young people. So now in climate justice and agriculture, we will be dealing with soil and field preparation, crop maintenance, harvesting and post-harvesting. These are important spaces in which you get your crop from point zero to the table of the consumer.”
The initiative will consist of members being taught about the impact of climate change and how to combat it through a series of plenary and hands-on training sessions. At the end, BYAP will be given a grant to pursue a venture with the sole purpose to employ the participants of the programme. (RT)
