Bahamas News
Dozens of eager farmers turn out for ADO, CCFG backyard farming kit distribution in Abaco
ADO, Church Commercial Farming Group distribute dozens of backyard farming kits, many to those trying to start over after Dorian
By Diane Phillips
#TheBahamas, December 14, 2022 – For Kathryn Cartwright, it was a very long journey to a church not far from the one-bedroom apartment she is renting in Marsh Harbour. It began decades earlier. Cartwright’s family had farmed as long as she could remember. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd took their well-known agricultural landmark, Carrollville, in Treasure Cay. She moved to Leisure Lee, and there, two decades later, Dorian swept away her home,
her smaller farm and everything she had.
On December 8, she showed up at the Friendship Tabernacle Church to collect a small starter kit in a carton, one of nearly a hundred who registered ahead. For Cartwright, the emotion of getting her hands back in the soil was even stronger than it was for most, though she was not deterred by the fact that she had to borrow a little plot of land to plant the seeds she was taking home because there is no yard where she is renting.
Many who filled the hall at the church where Abaco pillar Pastor Silbert Mills presides saw the farming kits as another step in the journey back to life after Dorian. There were those, too, like Etheridge Tinker who remembered when Abaconians were farmers and fishermen at heart. Tinker’s family grew crops where the only thing coming out of the ground now in Baker’s Bay is multimillion-dollar residences owned by celebrities, superstars and athletes like Tom Brady.
“Baker’s Bay was my playground,” he said. “I remember my family, we were growing potatoes, cassavas, peas, onion, mango. My grandfather was a fisherman and we gave food to our neighbours and they gave us food in return. I tell my children we went to the well pump for water and they wanna know what the pump is. If you can’t feed yourself, you in plenty trouble. Every seed I get, I plant.”
The distribution in Abaco was the first in a series of Family Island roll-outs of the initiative that got off the ground in a serious way less than six months ago, a program known as the Church Commercial Farming Group. Its formation incidentally coincided with the timing of the hurricane that devasted Grand Bahama and Abaco in 2019. It was
spearheaded by Assemblies of God of Prophecy Superintendent for The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Rev. Pat Paul, a man who believes physical and spiritual health go hand-in-hand, on the pulpit and off, worrying about the rates of diabetes and heart disease in The Bahamas while personally living the example of healthy living.
In the beginning, he said, the farming program was running at “maybe 7.5 miles an hour.” Then in early 2021, along came Philip Smith and the Agricultural Development Organization. Two weeks later, Smith agreed to join forces and not long after, presented a whopping $200,000 donation that came with ambitious goals — we’ll fund you and together we will make farming the hottest new commodity in The Bahamas.”
“Ever since that moment,” said Rev. Paul, “we’ve been flying.”
Requests for kits have been pouring in non-stop – hundreds from Abaco and Grand Bahama, thousands in New Providence. Distribution is measured carefully to allow for each recipient of a kit to be paired with one of a number of field officers who assist, visit on a regular basis, create and document progress and problems, and help find solutions.
The hand-holding, says Abaco Neem farmer Daphne DeGregory, is essential. “It’s all about stickability. You have to be patient. But as a Bahamian farmer, you have a great advantage. You can control what you grow and you have access to some of the best water anywhere.”
There are some things you cannot control, she said, like a wild boar that destroyed a banana patch two nights earlier at the Abaco Neem farm, or the damage wreaked by feral cats and raccoons, but with the weather, you can build rock farms or do container farming with year-round easy access.
“We CAN feed ourselves in this country,” said the woman who, like Kathryn Cartwright, lost so much, including the retail shop and the home above it she and her husband occupied before Dorian, before they moved to the farm. But she also gained an even greater appreciation for all that nature provides and now living totally off the grid, and serving as president of the Abaco Chamber of Commerce, DeGregory applauds the initiative and believes whether you do a little or a lot there is no richer life than farming, no fresher taste than the berries you pick off the tree in the morning for breakfast or the coconut water you drink through a reusable straw seconds after it is pulled from the tree. “Farming is the root of self-sustainability.
“My husband gave up a very lucrative business to farm because he followed his soul. Farming,” she said, “is a prestigious profession.”
Release: ADO Bahamas
Photo Captions:
Header: Farmer and Abaco Chamber of Commerce President Daphne DeGregory, left, gives a backyard farming kit to a recipient in Abaco during the launch of the Agricultural Development Organization and Church Commercial Farming Group initiative in Marsh Harbour December 8.
1st insert: Reverend Clyde Bain, Church Commercial Farming Group administrator, helps to distribute dozens of backyard farming kits to residents of Abaco who registered online for the program operated in conjunction with the Agricultural Development Organization. ADO is headed by Philip Smith (below), who spent 17 years feeding the hungry before turning to a way to end hunger and live healthier through growing what you eat and eating what you grow.
2nd insert: Philip Smith founded Agricultural Development Organization to help end hunger by growing what you eat and eating what you grow. He was driven to find a better way to fight hunger after spending 17 years feeding the hungry, the last nine as head of Bahamas Feeding Network where he continues to serve on the board.
3rd insert: Reason to smile – Reverend Pat Paul, General Superintendent Assemblies of God Church in The Bahamas including Turks and Caicos, tells the crowd gathered at the church in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, for a backyard farming kit distribution that if we grew only 25% of our nutritional needs, we would save more than $250 million a year in food import costs.
By Deandrea Hamilton
The Bahamas, June 9, 2026 – The Caribbean Development Bank’s annual gathering may have concluded in The Bahamas, but attention is already turning to Belize as leadership of the institution’s Board of Governors officially changed hands.
At the close of the 56th Annual Meeting in Nassau, outgoing Chairman and CDB Governor for The Bahamas, Michael Halkitis, formally
transferred the chairmanship to Belize’s Dr. Hon. Osmond Martinez, continuing the Bank’s tradition of rotating leadership among its regional shareholders.
The handover capped a week of discussions focused on financing development in an increasingly uncertain global environment and strengthening the Caribbean’s ability to withstand economic and climate-related shocks.
One of the meeting’s most closely watched conversations centered on how multilateral development banks can better support vulnerable Small Island Developing States.
During the President’s Chat, titled Financing the Future: MDB Strategies for Uncertain Times, CDB President Daniel Best joined leaders from the OPEC Fund, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage to discuss expanding development finance and building resilience.
OPEC Fund President Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa emphasized that development institutions must move beyond responding to crises and instead help countries prepare for them.
“The real test is whether we can help countries move from strategy to implementation, and from implementation to results,” Alkhalifa said.
The discussions reflected a growing regional push for innovative financing solutions as Caribbean nations continue to confront climate vulnerability, infrastructure demands and economic uncertainty.
Beyond discussions on financing and resilience, the Annual Meeting also featured youth engagement activities, including the Youth FIRE
Forum, where young Caribbean leaders participated in conversations about innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership and the future of regional development. Senior government officials, development professionals and youth delegates exchanged ideas on the challenges and opportunities facing the next generation, reinforcing a recurring message throughout the conference: that investments made today must ultimately improve opportunities for Caribbean youth tomorrow.
That theme was echoed by Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis, who used the opening ceremony to challenge regional leaders to invest in future generations.
“We must invest in the one asset that no agency can ever downgrade, and that no storm can ever wash away: the mind of a Caribbean child,” Davis told delegates.
With Belize now assuming the chairmanship, regional leaders say the focus remains on transforming ideas discussed in Nassau into tangible results for Caribbean people.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
ABACO, BAHAMAS — Nearly two months after American sailor Lynette Hooker vanished in waters off Abaco, investigators are preparing
to conduct a new search based on GPS and navigation data that reportedly challenges the account originally provided by her husband.
The case, which first drew international attention in early April, began when Brian Hooker told authorities that his wife was swept away after falling from an inflatable dinghy during rough conditions in waters near Elbow Cay.
Initial search efforts involving Bahamian and U.S. authorities covered extensive areas of the Sea of Abaco but failed to locate the missing Michigan woman.
Now, according to multiple U.S. media reports, investigators have obtained electronic navigation and GPS data that appears to place the couple’s dinghy in a different location from where searchers initially concentrated their efforts.
The new information has prompted authorities to reopen search operations and seek permission for divers to examine a more targeted area of the Sea of Abaco.
Unlike the broad search that followed Hooker’s disappearance, the renewed effort is expected to focus on a relatively shallow section of water, reportedly about 25 feet deep. Investigators believe the location may offer a better opportunity to recover evidence and potentially answer lingering questions surrounding the disappearance.
The latest development marks a significant shift in the investigation.
What began as a maritime search-and-rescue operation has evolved into a complex multinational investigation involving Bahamian authorities, the United States Coast Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Brian Hooker was detained and questioned by Bahamian authorities following his wife’s disappearance but was later released without
charges. While investigators have never publicly accused him of a crime, reports indicate he remains a person of interest as authorities continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the case.
Hooker has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has maintained that his wife accidentally fell overboard.
The investigation has intensified in recent weeks. U.S. authorities have reportedly seized the couple’s sailboat, Soulmate, transporting the vessel to Florida for forensic examination. Investigators are said to be reviewing onboard electronics, digital records and other potential evidence as part of the ongoing inquiry.
The case has also attracted attention from Lynette Hooker’s family, who have continued to press for answers and support efforts to locate her.
The renewed search comes after Brian Hooker returned to the United States following the disappearance. Reports indicate he cited family reasons, including concerns about his mother’s health, for leaving The Bahamas.
For investigators, however, the focus now appears fixed on the newly identified search area and the electronic evidence that led them there.
Whether the latest operation produces answers remains to be seen. But nearly eight weeks after Lynette Hooker disappeared in the waters of Abaco, authorities believe new technology and new information may finally provide a clearer picture of what happened that night.
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Regional policymakers, development financiers, economists and international partners are converging on Nassau this week as the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) stages its 56th Annual Meeting at the Baha Mar Resort from June 1-5, 2026.
Held under the theme, “Forging the Caribbean’s Future: Strategic Solutions for Uncertain Times,” the gathering is expected to
place The Bahamas at the center of discussions on some of the region’s most pressing challenges, from climate resilience and energy security to debt sustainability and economic growth.
At the launch of the annual meeting on March 19, CDB President Daniel Best underscored the importance of bringing together leaders from across the Caribbean and beyond at a time of global uncertainty.
“The Annual Meeting provides a strategic moment for the Caribbean, an opportunity for our leaders, governments, development institutions, private sector, youth, and international partners to come together to identify practical solutions that can help the Region navigate uncertainty while unlocking the opportunities that lie ahead,” Best said.
The conference host, newly named Bahamas Minister of Finance and Chairman of the CDB Board of Governors, Michael Halkitis, also emphasized the significance of the event during the March 19 launch ceremony.
“Today’s gathering marks more than the start of preparations for an important meeting. It represents the beginning of a renewed conversation about the future of the Caribbean, about our shared aspirations, our common challenges, and the partnerships that will shape the path forward for our region,” Halkitis said.
He added: “Hosting the 56th Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank here in Nassau provides an important opportunity to strengthen partnerships and advance meaningful dialogue on the future of the Caribbean.”
Over the five-day meeting, delegates will tackle major issues including energy transition and resilience, innovative debt solutions for Caribbean economies, and the impact of global economic shocks on regional development.
The programme features a number of high-level events including the Youth FIRE Forum, the William G. Demas Memorial Lecture, the
President’s Chat titled Financing the Future: MDB Strategies for Uncertain Times, and a series of policy seminars examining climate finance, infrastructure, economic resilience and development lending.
Among the featured participants are CDB President Daniel Best, Finance Minister Michael Halkitis, senior officials from multilateral development banks, regional finance ministers, central bank governors, economists, development specialists and private-sector leaders. The President’s Chat is expected to bring together leaders of major multilateral development banks to discuss financing strategies for developing states facing mounting economic pressures.
The annual meeting also includes sessions branded “EDGE X by CDB: Analytics Unlocked,” which will explore the economic costs of traffic congestion in the Caribbean and how global crises continue to affect regional economies.
The CDB Annual Meeting traditionally attracts representatives from the Bank’s 28 member countries, including government ministers, senior public officials, development agencies, international financial institutions, youth delegates, academics and private-sector stakeholders. Hundreds of delegates are expected to participate in discussions that will help shape development priorities and financing strategies across the Caribbean in the years ahead.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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