Agriculture at the heart of sustainable development efforts of the Region, and solidarity among the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its regional and international partners to achieve food and nutrition security, were common themes at the opening ceremony of the 19th Caribbean Week of Agriculture.
The week of activities is being hosted by St. Kitts and Nevis at the Marriott Beach Resort, Casino & Spa in Frigate Bay, from 29 September to 3 October 2025.
The opening ceremony on Monday featured a roster of 10 speakers who zeroed in on the need for partnerships across the Region and the world, for efficient, sustainable and innovative agricultural practices and increased financing and investment to achieve the goal of food security.
In his keynote address, the Hon. Dr. Geoffrey Ian Hanley, Deputy Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, identified agriculture as one of the cornerstones of sustainable development, and encouraged others to make it their sector of choice.
Tracing the roots of agriculture in the Region, Dr. Hanley said: “Agriculture has always been the heartbeat of our Caribbean story. Long before we called ourselves independent nations, long before we established CARICOM, it was agriculture that first defined our place in the world on the fertile soils of our islands, sugar, cocoa, coffee, banana and cotton grew in abundance.”
He acknowledged that hardship and exploitation are associated with agriculture, but pointed out that there are also lessons to be learned of resilience, the value of land, and what it means to sustain life “in a Region often buffeted by storms, droughts and economic shocks.”
Food security, sovereignty, climate resilience, and sustainable development cannot be divorced from agriculture, he told the audience at the opening ceremony.
“The truth is, if we cannot feed ourselves, we are not truly free,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Listen to the opening ceremony here.
Get updates here on the week of activities.
Click here for photographs.
Access videos here.
About the Caribbean Week of Agriculture
The Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) is the premier event on the regional agricultural calendar. It is a roving event hosted by CARICOM Member States and Associate Members and includes seminars, key meetings, a special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), and an exhibition.
The CWA was conceptualised by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) as a facility to place agriculture and rural life on the front burner of regional integration activities and in doing so enable:
- the 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; and
- for the major stakeholders in agriculture and related sectors to have an opportunity 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 inaugural meeting in 1998, the two main collaborating agencies were IICA and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.
In 2002, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) joined IICA and CARICOM to establish a core group which functions as the Secretariat of The Alliance. Since then, the four agencies have collaborated on the management and logistics necessary for the convening and servicing of meetings of The Alliance as well as the myriad of activities during the CWA. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) which was a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU) from 1983 – 2020, was a major partner and sponsor of the CWA activities from 2003.
To date, there have been 18 successful editions of the CWA. The first CWA was held in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999. Last year, St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosted the event.
