Parham
Damion Mitchell, Staff Reporter
DR. WENDEL Parham, the new executive director of the 30-year- old Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), says he is on a mission to re-position the organisation as a premier agricultural research and development agency.
He was speaking with The Sunday Gleaner on Friday shortly before an executive meeting at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, with CARDI officers and representatives from numerous agricultural agencies working in collaboration with the Institute.
"It is a challenge to bring back CARDI as a centre of research and development but my objective is to restore it," said Dr. Parham, the Belize national, who has worked for 25 years in various agricultural capacities in that country including as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.
But given the significant challenge to reposition the Institute, why did Dr. Parham relinquish his post as Belize's Director of Citrus and Banana Industries to assume responsibility as head of CARDI on January 1, this year?
"First of all it is a regional job that gives more scope and more opportunity to direct a regional organisation in agricultural research and development which is far greater than being a permanent secretary. It is opening up new some new avenues that will bring some new experiences," he said.
Friday's executive meeting the third in a series slated for the 12 Caribbean territories that CARDI comprises formed part of Dr. Parham's strategies to strengthen the organisation.
SHORTFALL
According to him, one of the Institute's shortfalls was a major reduction in the number of technical officers it employs. At present, CARDI, operating on an annual budget of EC$8.8 million (approximately J$198 million) employs a total of 26 technical officers, 52 less than it employed just over six years and according to Dr. Parham, this number was insufficient to facilitate efficient agricultural research and development.
But, he said, the Institute's funding first had to be increased. "It is my challenge to attract the necessary funds and expertise," he said, noting that there were traditional agricultural partners being pursued to contribute to new project proposals and joint technical research initiatives.
Dr. Parham said that following the regional meetings which should end by June, he would be preparing a corporate plan to inform the Institute's policies, but he has already concluded that more market researches must be conducted to determine the demands for livestock and crops to encourage farmers to produce at corresponding levels.
