Argentine experts began flood mitigation training in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday.
The Master Trainers ‘Training Workshop’ will use Geographic Information System (GIS) for flood mapping and management using remote sensing.
The initiative is a collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, the Government of Argentina, and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture(IICA).
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Representative, Diana Francis, welcomed the team of Argentine experts to Trinidad and Tobago for a two-week master training programme focused on flood mitigation and its impact on agriculture.
She highlighted the importance of the training in addressing flooding.
“We really hope that come 2025, we are able to see movement in terms of being proactive, in terms of responding in a way that is most efficient. Why? So that farmers don’t lose their crops and their livestock, so that consumers are not faced with volatile prices because of flood shortages, and so that the Ministry doesn’t have to spend so much money in compensation, and that money can be more productively used in terms of more productive agriculture, and that our soils, our precious top soils, don’t end up in the marine environment.”
Argentine Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Gustavo Martínez Pandiani, emphasised the true essence of cooperation.
“We want to learn from you. All the knowledge we have in this room is part of the challenge. We are not the ones who know everything and bring our knowledge here. That’s not cooperation. Cooperation means we work together, we learn from each other, and that’s exactly what this project is about.”
The training will equip participants from various Government Agencies, including the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), with skills to develop tailored solutions for Trinidad and Tobago’s unique challenges.