The Moruga Hills Organic Producers Association has partnered with the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEFSGP) to train Warao farmers in sustainable hill rice farming, marking Trinidad’s first initiative of its kind.
President of the Association, Mark Forgenie, discussed the programme’s objectives and how it has helped the Warao community build valuable skills.
“So, the training programme, we started to teach people all the parts, not just the production of the rice, but the preservation of the soil, the preservation of the water, the preservation of the natural herbal plants in the field, and how this is all beneficial to the farmer. By putting them in this environment where we have natural ponds and river flow, where we have natural food, they excelled. So suddenly, they can show the world the value of their skill sets because this is the template and opportunity to do it in.”
National Coordinator of GEFSGP, Dr. Sharda Mahabir, highlighted the mutual benefits the programme created for the Warao community and local farmers.
“The farmers need, for example, persons to be on their properties, in their farms, helping to manage the trees. They need the labour. They need the support system, but they also need the security. One of the biggest issues when we started this programme was one of the fields, one of the first fields ever planted was actually burnt by arson. It was set afire. So, there is a need for security in the spaces, whereas the Warao persons need a space where they can produce their foods, live in harmony with the environment, because that’s how they traditionally live.”
The programme helps the Warao community integrate into Trinidadian society and adopt sustainable farming, while supporting families to improve their livelihoods.