The Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI) is a collaborative organization comprised of 11 Eastern Caribbean and other small nations who pool their technical talent to conduct farming systems research in a variety of livestock, poultry and crop arenas. CARDI planning and administration was difficult because the small research centers in each country spanned five time zones and different agro-economic conditions. Financial transactions occurred in six different currencies. Employees came from several different cultures and different technical disciplines.
We assisted CARDI for 5 years, along with consultants from the International Development Management Center, University of Maryland. Technical assistance activities included creating long-term strategic plans, developing an integrated annual planning cycle, establishing systems for prioritizing research needs, teaching management methods to staff, and improving financial reporting systems to host country ministries and donor agencies. In addition to extensive work at the Trinidad and Tobago headquarters, we worked with field offices in Barbados, Jamaica, Belize, Grenada, and St. Lucia.
CARDI remains a vital institution in conducting research which improves the competitiveness and sustainability of a region facing serve logistical disadvantages and operational diseconomies of scale. CARDI efforts contribute to achieving food self-sufficiency, reducing imports, and developing export crops, with the goal of improving quality of life for the Caribbean people.