Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the 19th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The CWA 2025 will be held from 29 September–3 October under the theme ‘Sowing Change, Harvesting Resilience: Transforming Our Caribbean Food Systems for 2025 and Beyond’. As the flagship event on the Region’s agricultural calendar, the CWA provides a forum for the key decision-makers in the public and the private sectors within the Region to highlight the importance of agriculture and rural life to the economic, social and environmental stability of CARICOM Member States. It also provides an opportunity for major stakeholders in agriculture and connected industries to forge a common vision for the development of agriculture and the enhancement of rural life.
CWA 2025 Activities:
This year, the CWA will feature technical sessions, beginning with a focus on youth and women within the framework of the 25×25+5 regional food security initiative. Discussions will also place emphasis on climate resilience and survival; derisking the regional food system; and finding funding solutions and investments to drive agricultural innovation and growth. High-level meetings are scheduled during the week, as well as novel activities such as a Youth AgriMarine Debate Competition, a honey show by CARICOM and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and an Agriculture & Marine Expo (Open Day). As is customary during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture, a Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture will be convened.
EVENT: 19th Caribbean Week of Agriculture
WHEN: 29 September – 3 October 2025 | 9 am daily
Media representatives planning to cover the CWA 2025 are advised to register for the event via http://bit.ly/4nCrXMH
Additional information about the CWA can be viewed at: https://cwa2025.caricom.org/#
ABOUT 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. Close to 500 visitors joined Vincentians for the week of activities that focused on ‘Climate-Smart Agriculture for a Sustainable Future’.
Click here to listen as Ms. Deborah Daniel, Agriculture Planning Officer, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, reflects on the 2024 edition of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture and shares advice for hosting the event.
