“Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2024 will be a pivotal event for agriculture stakeholders and an opportunity to forge partnerships, share knowledge and commit to actions that will safeguard our Region’s agriculture production, and at the same time protect our precious natural resources. I am hopeful, that the events staged for CWA 2024 will provide stakeholders with an ideal opportunity to interact with their counterparts from across the Region, showcase their products at the Trade Show and Exhibition, and mutually benefit from shared knowledge and experience.” Dr. Armstrong Alexis, CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General
- Honourable Ministers;
- Excellencies, Heads of International and Regional Organisations;
- Farmers and Other Stakeholders.
This year, the focus of CARICOM’s flagship event, Caribbean Week of Agriculture, is on Climate Smart Agriculture for a Sustainable Future. It is a call to action and underscores the urgency of integrating resilience and sustainability into the fabric of our agricultural practices.
Agriculture remains a major economic sector of most CARICOM Member States and there has been increased vigour under our Vision 25 by 2025 initiative. We are now seeing investments and exchanges to promote and integrate technologies covering primary production, on-farm innovation, irrigation, and digitalisation of the sector. While the results to date have been generally positive, the challenges remain real and present. The sector still stands at the crossroads between opportunity and vulnerability.
Chief among our challenges is climate change. The CARICOM Region is a prime example of the negative effects of climate change. However, the efficient introduction and adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture can propel us into new and progressive realities of increased productivity, and adaptation and resilience to climate change.
Climate Smart Agricultural technologies present a pathway to transform and reorient our food systems, with significant benefits and sustainable advantages to farmers. These technologies also greatly assist the food security goals of the CARICOM Region, including through climate-resilient crop varieties; new techniques in conservation agriculture and crop rotation to enhance soil health; precision farming, and improved livestock management.
Let us also remember that climate-smart agriculture is not just a concept or a buzzword. It is a practice that requires the collective effort of every stakeholder in the agricultural sector. Women, young people, the private sector, civil society, regional and international partners, and policymakers all play a critical role in our drive towards regional food and nutrition security.
Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2024 will be a pivotal event for agriculture stakeholders and an opportunity to forge partnerships, share knowledge and commit to actions that will safeguard our Region’s agriculture production, and at the same time protect our precious natural resources. I am hopeful, that the events staged for CWA 2024 will provide stakeholders with an ideal opportunity to interact with their counterparts from across the Region, showcase their products at the Trade Show and Exhibition, and mutually benefit from shared knowledge and experience.
On behalf of the Secretariat, I thank the Institutions that are contributing to staging this landmark event, including the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in particular, Minister Caesar and his team at the Ministry of Agriculture; members of the various CWA 2024 committees, our Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Integration, Innovation and Development and the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat’s Agriculture Programme and all our partners.
I look forward to the fruitful discussions, insightful exchanges and actionable outcomes that will emerge from this pivotal gathering to advance food and nutrition security, safeguard our environment, and ensure the prosperity of the Caribbean Community. The spirit of cooperation and determination which has been key to the successes celebrated by us as a regional integration movement that is more than 50 years old, will be further strengthened by the interactions during this important 18TH CARIBBEAN WEEK OF AGRICULTURE.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
14 June 2024
