Southern University Ag Center signs MOU with St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Education
Baton Rouge, La. – The Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center (Southern University Ag Center or SU Ag Center) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Saint Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Education.
The signing of the MOU by Orlando F. McMeans, Ph.D., Chancellor-Dean of the Southern University Ag Center and the College of Agricultural, Human and Environmental Sciences, was held on December 27, 2023, hosted by Dame Marcella Liburd at the Government House in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. The ceremony was led by Saint Kitts and Nevis Honorable Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew and H.E. Hadiya Claxton, Special Envoy for Investment, Development & International Business Relations, along with other government officials.
Through the MOU, the SU Ag Center will provide sustainable and environmental agriculture consultant services to the Minister of Agriculture Hon. Samal Duggins, which will assist the region’s farming community by providing the latest insights and expertise in areas of sustainable agriculture, climate change, and medicinal plants (specifically medicinal cannabis). The Ag Center will also offer certification courses in vendor food safety.
The Southern University delegation consisting of Myron K. Lawson, Chairman of the SU Board of Supervisors; Dennis J. Shields, President-Chancellor of the Southern University and A&M College; Dr. Rani Whitfield, M.D., Vice Chairman of the SU Board of Supervisors; Allen Vital, Ph.D., Chief of Staff of the Office of the President; Tracey Taylor-Jarrell, Ph.D., Coordinator of Board Relations and SU Board of Supervisors; Orlando F. McMeans, Ph.D., Chancellor-Dean of the SU Agricultural Research and Extension Center and College of Ag; Dr. Renita Marshall, Vice Chancellor for Academics, Student Services, and Associate Dean in the SU College of Ag; Jose Toledo, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Research at the SU Ag Center; Janana Snowden, Ph.D., Director of the Southern Institute for Medicinal Plants at the SU Ag Center; and Katara Williams, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and External Relations at the SU Ag Center toured the Clarance Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC), Bayford’s Farms in Saint Kitts and the Nevis Agricultural Farm operations.
Additionally, Drs. McMeans, Snowden, and Whitfield provided information on medicinal plant research and innovations during a Medical Cannabis Forum organized by Dr. Garfield Alexander, CEO of the Marijuana Commission in the Ministry of Agriculture.
In September 2023, Southern University and A&M College President-Chancellor, Dennis Shields and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, the Hon. Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, signed an MOU that allowed for the acceptance of credits from the CFBC, in-state tuition rates, and recognition of Caribbean Secondary EducationCertificate (CSEC) subjects for entry into Southern University by residents of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The Southern University Ag Center’s MOU officially began on December 27, 2023, and the first student has been admitted to the College of Ag’s Urban Forestry Doctoral program.