Preparations move into high gear for Caribbean Week of Agriculture in Barbados

The Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) – the premier agriculture event on the Region’s calendar – will be held in Bridgetown, Barbados, on 8-12 October, 2018, under the theme ‘Strengthening agriculture for a healthier future in the Region‘. During the week, farmers, policy-makers, youth, experts in the field of agriculture and other stakeholders, will participate in activities aimed at charting the Region’s path in the important sector.

The activities include a trade show and exhibition – MarketPlace 2018 – seminars and workshops, field trips and a special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture.

Among the topics to be covered in the workshops and seminars are Development of the Regional Coconut Industry, Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, Climate Resilience in the Agriculture and Fisheries Sectors, Small Ruminants, and The School Feeding Programme.

Preparations for the week-long event last year and in addition to virtual meetings of the organizing committee, face-to-face meetings are currently underway at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Bridgetown.

The preparations are being led by a broad-based steering committee that comprises representatives from the Government of Barbados, the CARICOM Secretariat, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).

Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) was conceptualized by the IICA as a facility to place agriculture and rural life on the front burner of regional integration activities. The CWA enables key decision-makers in the public and private sectors to better acknowledge the importance of agriculture and rural life to the economic, social and environmental stability of the region. The event also provides an opportunity for major stakeholders in agriculture and related sectors to dialogue and forge a common vision for the repositioning of agriculture and the enhancement of rural life.

The CWA is convened under the aegis of the Alliance for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and the Rural Milieu (`The Alliance’). From the first inaugural meeting in 1998, the two main collaborating agencies were IICA and the CARICOM Secretariat.

Original source: CARICOM
Published on 17 August 2018