The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), continuing efforts under the One Village, One Product Campaign, which aims to assist micro-producers through better branding, have presented the Ministry of Agriculture with the findings of the One Valley, One Product Pilot Project.
The One Village One Product Pilot Project focused on improving the marketing and branding of a variety of products from the selected communities of Micoud, Choiseul, and Soufriere. The catalog, survey and report presented by JICA to the Ministry of Agriculture has a selection process outlined in response to feedback from the OVOP pilot project providing a transparent tool for final product selection for the full rollout of the OVOP Project across the island.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Barrymore Felicien noting the success of the pilot project partnership between the Ministries of Agriculture and Commerce and JICA expressed gratitude to all stakeholders involved in the initiative.
“I can say this morning that beyond the presentation of the final report and the catalog, the project has been a resounding success in many ways not only because they delivered but because of the collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture, JICA, Ministry of Commerce,” Felicien asserts.
According to Permanent Secretary Barrymore Felicien, the OVOP project can provide a plethora of opportunities once fully implemented.
“ We already have a formula that we’ve used that is successful, we can further implement that can ensure that other communities benefit.” Felicien says.
The next step in the One Valley One Product Project will be a technical meeting with JICA and the Ministries of Agriculture and Commerce to develop a proposal for the project’s overall direction.
