Title: Rock Hall Agro-Tourism Project Location: Categories: Environment Education Culture
Status:
In Progress
Timeline:
Ongoing
Description:
The Rock Hall Agro-Tourism project specifically looks at strengthening the tourism sector through the development of linkages with the agricultural sector in the Caribbean. It has been noted elsewhere that the agricultural improvements have not been evenly felt or experienced throughout the Caribbean and there are several territories where the rate of development and employment has lagged behind the national average.
The implementation of this project will strengthen the Tourism sector through the Development of Linkages with the Agricultural Sector in the Caribbean. This will in turn increase the streams of revenue generating operations within the community and the island creating niche employment sectors while still protecting and celebrating the distinct culture and heritage of Rock Hall.
Potential stakeholders are: the community; tourists; the Barbados Tourism Authority - BTA (the tourist board of the island); transportation providers; vendors; Parliamentary Representative; Barbados Museum; the Barbados National Trust (the agency that protects the architectural heritage of the buildings on the island); the National Cultural Foundation (the agency the promotes the culture of the island; Pan African Commission (since this is the area of the first free-village after emancipation); land developers; community centres in Rock Hal; farmers and other agriculture providers; Inter-American Institute for Cooperation Agriculture (the agency that I did the initial consultancy for and submitted a report to in December 2008); FAO (the UN agency that handles the agricultural mandate); OAS/World Bank/IADB (funding agencies who would probably contribute to this initiative)
Background:
The profile of Rock Hall is non-existent; although the people of Barbados should know the village of Rock Hall as its name appears on the map of Barbados four times in the 166 square miles. It is the “first Freedom Village”, yet it was incorporated only once in the Emancipation Day celebrations; and this therefore adds to the weariness of the community about plans for Rock Hall, St Thomas.
There is no emerging vision that can be crafted for Rock Hall unless there is some higher level of commitment by the National community of Barbados. Rock Hall may essentially be doomed to become just like any village or community in Barbados; well sanitized and properly groomed.
The issue we are trying to address can be surmised in the problem statement: There is insufficient economic activity in community giving rise to its definition as a poor, rural village. It appears that the people in the community are at a welfare dependent stage and given the resources and rich history of the community, there is little reason that agro-tourism activity cannot be used as a vehicle to stimulate economic growth.
The purpose of this project is: To strengthen the tourism sector through development of linkages with the agricultural sector in Barbados.
The mission of this project: To regenerate economic activity in Rock Hall, St. Thomas based on the agro-tourism resources available.
The vision of this proejct: Enabling the use of agro-tourism to drive an economic path for Barbados.
Scope: To undertake a wide range of activities such as: host a community (Town Hall) meeting in collaboration with community leaders or representatives; create a community Engagement Strategy Document that includes:an identified Community Tourism Action Committee comprising of a group of volunteers dedicated to improving their community.
Objectives:
The general objective of this project is to strengthen the tourism sector through development of linkages with the agricultural sector in Barbados.
Milestones:
Some of the achievable milestones would be:
Identify and list any groups, committees, councils or Associations that may exist, have existed or are in the process of being formed and conducting a preliminary appraisal of the community's infrastructure (water, sewer) and transportation systems to determine local capacity to support agro-tourism industry.
Budget:
My income would be variable and dependent on grants received.
Some of the start up expenses would be for the physical infrastructure and development of the area as well as the organisational infrastructure which could start in the range of $100000 USD as a conservative figure in light of the challenging economic times
Menu
About