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BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS – May 29, 2025 — Agriculture Minister Hon. Samal Duggins is back on home soil after clocking in yet another overseas engagement—this time, a high-level ministerial mission to San José, Costa Rica. The latest trip, part of a four-day study tour hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), placed Duggins alongside regional counterparts and over 20 young people and women from the Eastern Caribbean for discussions on rural development, climate resilience, and food security.

While the Federation grapples with skyrocketing food prices, high youth unemployment, and persistent calls for more boots-on-the-ground governance, Duggins was jet-setting to Costa Rica, representing St. Kitts and Nevis in what officials described as a “historic” training mission to promote youth and women in agriculture.

During the trip, Duggins emphasized the critical role of young people and women in building a resilient agricultural future. “A meeting like this is important for us because it gives us the opportunity to establish a framework for young people and women in agriculture to develop and prosper,” said the Minister. “With IICA’s wonderful support, we believe this framework is translating into real and tangible benefits for our country.”

But critics are asking: At what cost? This latest international excursion marks one of several overseas appearances by the Minister in recent months, triggering growing concerns from constituents about absentee leadership.

The visit to Costa Rica was part of a broader regional initiative organized in conjunction with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and featured ministers from Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. The delegation was hosted by IICA Director General Manuel Otero and engaged in training sessions at both IICA and the prestigious Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE).

The objective? Bolstering support for OECS’ FAST Strategy—aimed at revitalizing agriculture through climate-smart innovation, food sovereignty, and capacity-building among rural youth and women.

Despite the noble goals, questions remain: How will the insights gained overseas translate into immediate relief for Kittitians and Nevisians dealing with empty shelves, rising produce costs, and dwindling interest in local farming?

Opposition voices have begun to murmur louder. “The Minister always seems to be on a plane, but our farmers are stuck on the ground with no support,” one Central Basseterre resident remarked. “We need real action, not more photo ops.”

Nevertheless, Duggins appears undeterred, lauding the Costa Rica mission as a stepping stone toward “real transformation” in agriculture. As his passport pages fill, all eyes are now on what concrete policies and programs will emerge back home—beyond the diplomatic dinners and tropical backdrops.

Is the Minister sowing the seeds of agricultural revival—or just planting himself in every international itinerary? Time, and the farmers, will tell.