Saint Lucia is pioneering an innovative economic development model through the One Community One Product (OCOP) initiative, adapted from Japan’s renowned One Village One Product (OVOP) framework. This transformative program demonstrates how local products and their unique heritage can generate market demand while creating sustainable livelihoods for rural communities.
Implemented through a strategic partnership between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Climate Change, OCOP employs a community-based value-chain methodology for local product development. The initiative focuses on enhancing skills, adding commercial value to existing agricultural products, and ensuring equitable distribution of economic and social benefits across entire communities—from farmers and processors to households and consumers.
Following extensive preliminary engagements in Soufrière, Micoud, and Laborie communities throughout the previous year, the project has now entered its focused implementation phase. Babonneau has been selected as the pilot community due to its established tradition of household-level value addition, particularly among women who have historically processed local produce for domestic use.
The current phase centers on the Saint Lucia Network of Rural Women Producers (Babonneau Cluster), involving approximately fourteen local women—primarily mothers—who are receiving hands-on training in value addition and agro-processing techniques. According to Kendra Payne, local consultant supporting the project implementation, this phase has been deliberately designed to build upon existing community assets: “It’s about working with what already exists in the community and shaping it into something realistic, sustainable, and meaningful for the people involved.”
The initiative has fostered collaborative partnerships with key organizations including the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), which has provided ongoing institutional support, and the Ministry of Agriculture’s Marketing Unit, which has been instrumental in supporting rollout activities. The women of the Babonneau Cluster have been particularly instrumental, sharing knowledge, mentoring new participants, and leading community engagement efforts.
As OCOP advances in Babonneau, the accumulated insights and methodologies will inform future expansion into additional communities across Saint Lucia, ensuring that each product not only achieves market success but authentically embodies the OCOP philosophy—where every product tells a meaningful community story.