As the journey to reconstruction continues, Rebuild Dominica forms a new partnership with the Global Breadfruit Institute to boost recovery efforts. This partnership follows the donation of advanced breadfruit cultivars from Dr. Julius Garvey, the son of the late great Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who also committed to agricultural reconstruction efforts.

The Global Breadfruit Institute advised they were aware of Rebuild Dominica’s international campaign to support The Commonwealth of Dominica following the damage caused by Tropical Storm Erika. To support this campaign, Global Breadfruit was inspired to provide a generous gift of 1,500 breadfruit trees.

The above video provides a glimpse of the breadfruit plants at the Dominica Ministry of Agriculture greenhouse. The video is narrated by Errol Emmanuel, Rebuild Dominica (RD)  member on island and Director of the Caribbean Agricultural Network: a collaborating organization to Rebuild Dominica.

In a statement of support to Rebuild Dominica’s efforts to revive agriculture on-island post Erika, Blair Lampert of Global Breadfruit stated, “This collaboration with Rebuild Dominica is part of a long-term effort, which unites local public and private entities engaged in business, research, agriculture, and welfare that will rely on Rebuild Dominica to proliferate optimal breadfruit varieties island-wide.” A sentiment shared by supporters of Dominica’s recovery.

A previous donation of breadfruit trees by the admirable Dr. Julius Garvey arrived in Dominica in the weeks preceding Tropical Storm Erika. This additional gift from the Global Breadfruit Institute is beneficial in furthering the mission of Rebuild Dominica. To learn more about the initial donation, the following excerpt from the Caribbean Agricultural Network’s (CAN) August 2015 press release is provided below:

“According to the CEO of the Caribbean Agricultural Network (CAN) Major Francis Richards, the cultivars (Ulu-fiti) and (Otea) are the donation of New York based General Surgeon Dr Julius Garvey, the last son of Marcus Garvey.

At the end of the hardening process, the objective of the project is to distribute the plants within the seven (7) agricultural regions on island. Upon arrival the cultivars will be transported to the Ministry of Agriculture’s greenhouse facility at Portsmouth where they will be hardened for three months prior to distribution to local farmers. The advanced cultivar types sent to Dominica are fast bearing and will fruit within 2 to 3 years, compared to the standard 3 to 5 years.

Dr. Garvey is a member of the Caribbean Agricultural Network and has dedicated himself to the development of Caribbean food security, in accordance with the principles of self reliance advocated by his father who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in the early 1900s. Dominica was a major base of support for the UNIA during its early years and Marcus Garvey himself was invited to Dominica in 1929 with the aid of UNIA representative, noted local poet and self rule activist JR Ralph Casimir.”

Read the full press release on the first donation from Dr. Garvey online at http://www.caribbeanagriculturalnetwork.com/2015/08/donation-of-advanced-breadfruit.html

 

This write-up was prepared by the Media Relations Team at Rebuild Dominica. For more information regarding this post, contact LaDàna Drigo at 202.670.6489 or info@AbovePrestigePR.com.