Oranjestad, St. Eustatius – The Public Entity of St. Eustatius is working on a vision for agricultural development and is supported by Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO), the latter on behalf of Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Safety (LNV).

In order to substantiate this vision, RVO has received the help of six students from Utrecht University. The students mapped out the problems on the basis of the FAO Framework for Sustainable Food Value Chain and investigated how best to deal with them. Due to the current small-scale agriculture and horticulture and due to overgrazing by stray livestock, St. Eustatius is very dependent on imports, which increases prices and has a negative effect on the quality of fresh products. There is also little or no sale of agricultural products or value added in the chain and the shortage of water is a major challenge.

Water

Other problems discussed are unhealthy eating patterns, soil problems, a lack of educational opportunities and administrative challenges. By working on the availability of water, the use of agricultural land, the horizontal and vertical integration of actors, education, the perception of agriculture and the small local market, a sustainable agricultural sector can be developed on St. Eustatius.

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