News

Offered through the CARICOM Education for Employment 09 (St. Kitts and Nevis) www.dal.ca/cefe project, an opportunity for collaboration between Faculty of Agriculture students and students at Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC), our partner on the island of St. Kitts presented itself to explore the future of agriculture and the importance of the involvement of youth in this field. 

As participants in the Leadership and Farm Study Tour, Amy and Emily have been working hard with CFBC students to design, create and facilitate a social media campaign supporting ‘youth-to-youth’ conversations around agriculture and their future in it!

The campaign titled “Re-thinking Agriculture” is using short videos to highlight innovations and technology in agriculture to change perceptions and challenge youth to become more involved. The Facebook campaign which can be found here (www.facebook.com/rethinkingagriculture), will be highlighting six videos over six weeks in addition to providing highlights, information and photos of different innovations in both Nova Scotia and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Amy Harrington is a student in her second year of Animal Science studies from Glenholme, Nova Scotia. She hopes to apply her degree within a career as a zoologist and has a keen interest in dog agility, obedience and showmanship. Amy brings a strong agricultural background, having been a 4-H member for nine years. Amy can certainly see where the concepts of youth, agriculture and social media intersect.

Emily Davis is completing her final year of the Environmental Science program.  Originally from Oxford, NS she has truly made a home for herself on the Agricultural Campus, participating in varsity sport and re-elected for a second term to the Dalhousie Agricultural Students’ Association (DASA) where she will serve as VP Finance this year.

“Growing up in an environment with little exposure to agriculture, my interest has continued to grow consistently since I entered Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture. Not only am I interested in Canadian agriculture, but also agriculture in other parts of the world.  Secondly, I do feel very strongly that agriculture is a field very under-emphasized in Canada and I witnessed this first hand, being only 1 of 2 students entering into this field from my previous high school.  I would absolutely love to be part of a project that attempts to highlight the massive importance of agriculture as a field and to create interest in young people.”

This student mobility opportunity arose from the recognition that both the Caribbean and Canada are experiencing a similar challenge of a growing trend of youth disinterest in entering agricultural fields. This opportunity aims to have youth “speak” to youth, encouraging them to consider the importance of agriculture and entering an agricultural field. 

Watch for updates on the social media campaign by following the Facebook page!  You can view the campaign created last summer via the Dominica Leadership and Farm Study Tour social media campaign at its Facebook page “Agri-Jobs: More Than Just the Farm.”

For more information, please contact:
Lindsay Miles-Pickup, Project Coordinator
International Office

Lindsay.milespickup@dal.ca