Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Charles Griffith says he’s “very impressed” with the products on offer from the Barbadian contingent at Agrofest.
Griffith spoke with members of the media on Saturday at the Barbados Agricultural Society’s annual Exhibition underway at Queen’s Park.
“The products are really outstanding. It seems like a lot of effort was placed in terms of developing some of the products that I am seeing here today and I hope that this moves from strength to strength,” he said.
“To say that I am satisfied is an understatement. I think that this is an ideal opportunity for our young people to showcase their products… I think some of them are very unique.”
According to Griffith, a lot of the products are made by the youth themselves. He said the Ministry is cognizant of the fact that it needs to expose the work of the youth, giving them an opportunity for the general public to see what is happening.
“The majority of the persons who are displaying their products today are functioning from home, so it means that what we have to do is to find an avenue to do this more often, to be able to set up a tent at this magnitude and have our youngsters who are starting their own business, or already involved in their business, to come out and showcase what it is that they have to offer,” the minister said.
“We’re looking at doing something called Youth City that will allow this to happen. Every month we’ll pitch a tent at a particular location where we believe that we can have maximum traffic and maximum impact on the clients who are coming through the YES (Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme) programme.
Meanwhile, Griffith said he’s hoping to see a move away from just showcasing in Barbados.
“I think it’s time for them to get involved in export, and my Ministry will make sure that we can do those things to help them to transition outside of Barbados, because the only way they are going to really grow their business is if they could see, for example, the Caribbean as another market them,” Griffith said.
“If they move in that direction, the government will support them.”
Agrofest began on Friday and wraps up at 9 p.m. on Sunday. (DLB)
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