Students and faculty at the Saint Lucia TVET Institute’s School of Sustainable Agriculture and Culinary Arts are celebrating a notable milestone, after their submission was selected as one of 24 shortlisted entries for a landmark regional video competition organized by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Launched last month with a submission deadline of September 11, the *I Am Agriculture: Youth in Agriculture High School Video Competition* was created to reframe public perceptions of the agricultural sector across the Caribbean. Backed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the initiative operates on a core belief: agriculture extends far beyond traditional farming. It is the backbone of regional food security, employment, innovative enterprise, community cohesion, and long-term sustainable development for Caribbean nations.
Organizers note that young people across the region carry unique perspectives, personal stories, and on-the-ground experiences that can help reintroduce agriculture to modern audiences in a fresh, relatable light. The competition invited high school-aged participants from across CARICOM member states to leverage digital creativity and personal storytelling to share what agriculture means to them, their local communities, and the broader Caribbean region.
After reviewing hundreds of submissions from across the bloc, judges selected just 24 entries to advance to the public voting round, with Saint Lucia earning only one spot: the submission from the TVET Institute’s School of Sustainable Agriculture and Culinary Arts.
For the small institution, the shortlisting is far more than a competition nod—it is a win for the entire local agricultural community and Saint Lucia as a whole, according to Lesha Gustave, an agriculture instructor at the school. Speaking with local outlet St Lucia Times, Gustave shared the last-minute, organic origins of the winning submission that almost never happened.
“Our team first heard about the competition over summer break, and we toyed with the idea of joining, but once the new school term started, we worried we wouldn’t have enough time to pull a polished project together,” she explained. That changed just days before the September 11 deadline, when Gustave was working with students on the school’s farm and struck up a conversation with Kellia Emmanuel, a student with combined interests in agriculture and culinary arts who aspires to become a professional chef.
When asked what drew her to agriculture, Emmanuel began sharing enthusiastic, thoughtful insights off the cuff—and Gustave knew they had their narrative. “We wrote down what she said, tweaked it slightly, recorded her thoughts that day, and then stayed after school until 9 p.m. the next day editing the final cut,” Gustave recalled, adding that the tight turnaround for post-production made the project the most challenging, and rewarding, the team had worked on in recent memory.
The news of their shortlisting came as a thrilling surprise for the entire team. Now, Gustave is calling on all Saint Lucians, from students and parents to community members across the island, to support the entry by voting. Voting is conducted via the CARICOM Caribbean Facebook page, where voters can like the Saint Lucian entry to cast their ballot, and share the submission link with their personal networks. The direct link to the video is available at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DdeVmkSr2/.
Voting will close on Monday, September 21, 2026. The overall winner of the competition will be awarded a US$1,700 cash prize during the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture, scheduled to take place in Jamaica from September 27 to October 2, 2026. The winning entrant will also take on the role of CARICOM Youth in Agriculture Ambassador for a full year, representing young agricultural innovators across the region. The Saint Lucia team is urging community members to cast their vote before the deadline to help bring the prize and recognition home.