Mr Augustine Merchant is the local professional at the St Kitts and Nevis Office of the Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture.He holds a Msc in Tropical Agricultural Development from the University of Reading.He was awarded a British Chevening Scholarship to study at Reading University; the United States Hubert Humphrey Fellowship to study at Cornell University and the United Nations Environmental Programme to study social Forestry at Dresden University in Germany. He currently coordinates IICA's Program in St Kits and Nevis