dec_2017c

16 17 OPENING LINES On the fourth dayof training,participants had the opportunity to gainmore hands-on experience of the cassava value chain through an interactive learning journey.The cassava value chain is the focus of an FAO-supported national program to improvemarket linkages and competitiveness of the roots and tubers sub-sector in Barbados. During the journey,participants followed various steps of the value chain fromproduction to consump- tion.They learned about the research on roots and tubers varietyof theministryof agriculture and the CaribbeanAgricultural Research andDevelopment Institute (CARDI),which are key institutional providers of knowledge on newtechnologies and improved plantingmaterial for cassava farmers. The field trip continued to a plantation and several cassava processing sites.Finally,to get an understand- ing of the distribution and consumption function of the value chain,participants visited a retail bakery that pro- duce cassava blended bread for local consumers.They also visited Cheapside PublicMarket and theMassey supermarket chain that both offer fresh cassava as well as cassava-based products. Participant feedbackat the end of the trainingwas extremelypositive asmost indicated that their un- derstanding of SFS and SFVC improved.“This training helps to facilitate a general understanding among all stakeholders about sustainable food systems as a newarea of focus within the agricultural sector,”said Dr.Coleen Phillips,FAONational Correspondent for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “We in St Vincent and the Grenadines can pursue capacitybuilding of national institutions across the board to ensure that the necessaryplanning process, institutional framework,and legislation are geared to- wards the development of a sustainable food system,” she continued. Possible future trainings include sessions with government officials in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,as well as Jamaica. By understanding the linkages between different areas such as agriculture, trade, health and nutrition, rural livelihoods, and envi- ronmental sustainability, practitioners are better able to find the underlying causes, rather than just the symptoms, of unsustain- able food systems, and find ways to improve their performance.