(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Preparations are moving apace for the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) which will be held in Georgetown, Guyana in October.
CWA 2013, the twelfth edition of the Region’s premier agricultural event, will be hosted by the Government of Guyana, 4-12 October, 2013, under the theme `Linking the Caribbean for Regional Food and Nutrition Security and Rural Development’. Emphasis will be placed on fisheries and forestry.
Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA), conceptualised by IICA, places agriculture and rural life on the “front burner” of regional integration activities. It aims to 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. It is also geared to provide major stakeholders in agriculture and related sectors with an opportunity to dialogue and forge a common vision for the repositioning of agriculture and the enhancement of rural life.
The preparations for the CWA are being led by a broad-based steering committee that comprises representatives from the Government of Guyana, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). CARICOM, FAO, and IICA are also represented on the Local Steering Committee supporting the CWA.
Organisers are working towards a dynamic event that incorporates workshop sessions and other fora on agriculture in all its dimensions, field trips and competitions that highlight the use of Caribbean foods in a manner that promotes healthy living. As is customary, a special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture will be convened during the CWA.
While the CWA will be formally opened on Wednesday 9 October, the activities begin on Friday 4 October with a two-day Media Science Workshop. An ICT and Agriculture Value Chains Validation workshop will run concurrently. An inter-faith service is planned for Sunday 6 October at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) where the CWA activities will be anchored.
The food competitions will form part of the Exposition and Trade Show that will be held from 7 – 12 October.
Webpages at the CARICOM Secretariat (www.caricom.org) and the Ministry of Agriculture (www.agriculture.gov.gy) have been established to provide information on the CWA 2013, as well as to receive feedback from the general public.
