CONTACT Magazine (Vol.18 No.1 – April 2018)

transforming t&T
Janet Bloom Fabres created the monthly
UpMarket as an outlet for cooks,
artisans and vendors unable to rent
store space
courtesy janet fabres
Trinidad and Tobago cocoa estates.
But chocolate production does not
depend on owning an estate, as
many local brands demonstrate:
Cocobel, Ortinola, Mariposa, Gina’s,
Brasso Seco. This initiative is being
led by the Cocoa Research Centre,
the rejuvenated descendant of the
Imperial College of Agriculture at
St Augustine which grew into the
University of the West Indies.
Most TTEC meters are bi-directional, so it should be simple to develop a net
metering system. There is nothing to stand in the way of TTEC organising, promoting
and utilising an alternate supply, like solar. Consider too that electric cars, to be
recharged on household energy, are within ten years of mass production. Are we
thinking ahead?
Wealth from waste
Three policy documents support a new enterprise: The Beverage Container Bill (1999);
the National Environmental Policy (2006); and the Integrated Solid Waste/Resource
Management Policy (2012). Is the iCare initiative going to industrialise waste recovery
and help clean up the waterways?
As an example, Sustainable Barbados is a private-public sector partnership
recovering materials for re-use in Barbados. Similar waste recovery centres could be
set up at Studley Park in Tobago and landfill sites in Trinidad. Materials recovered
could be the basis of new inventions.
From plant to plate
It’s probably the most stable industry – agriculture, agro-processing, agribusiness –
with the greatest scope for growth at every step from field to fine dining. In addition
to pepper sauces, condiments, beverages, baked goods and catering services, here are
just a few examples of innovation that are working:
• The Green Market Santa Cruz is an experiment in direct marketing of agri-products
to specific communities. The example has been picked up by the NAMDEVCO
weekend markets which now move produce into communities.
The relationship between producers and consumers helps with appreciation
of, and access to, healthy food. It teaches us about the use and value of specific
crops, such as the role of local honey, honeybees, and honey farmers in agriculture.
Innovations in food production and marketing, especially in areas with limited land
space, can grow into one of the most productive areas of rejuvenative enterprise.
• Our Moving Table – a pop-up feast made from local produce – is successfully
demonstrating new ways with food, and finding dining rooms around the country
in garden settings like Ajoupa Gardens and San Antonio Nurseries.
Growers are experimenting with hydroponic and vertical systems as well as
looking into the composition and health of soil, scientifically increasing yield and
managing multiple crop cycles.
• Cocoa. The demand and world price has stirred revitalisation of some of the old
“Edutainment” tourism
Visitors to Tobago and Trinidad in the
“active tourism” sector learn something
every time they visit, whether they
are returning residents or first-timers,
whether they are here for festivals or
business.
Ask the guides at the Asa Wright
Centre who are constantly teaching about
the birds, animals and plant life – and
learning too. Ask the turtle protectors at
Grande Riviere, the Main Ridge Rainforest
guides, or Ali Baba’s Sea Breeze and Tours
in Castara. Tobago’s more active visitors
want to learn to dive and explore the
ocean, to bicycle round the island, and to
meet Tobagonians where they live.
There is much scope for a visitor
market that is curious about TT
lifestyle, festivals, food and the natural
environment. The Environmental
Research Institute of Charlotteville (ERIC)
is tapping in to locals and visitors who
are eager to understand and conserve the
marine reserves around northeast Tobago.
Buccoo Reef has long been a site of active
tourism, a source of revenue for fisherfolk
and tour operators, in spite of the failure
to update management practices.
The Nariva and Caroni wetlands,
turtle nesting beaches, El Tucuche and
Aripo, can all bring revenue to small
and diverse communities. All that’s
needed might be the infrastructure and
safeguards that the government provides;
and a continued flow of arrivals by air
and sea.
26
Trinidad
and Tobago Chamber
of Industry and Commerce
www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine