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Media Advisory – Opening, Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2021

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Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) gets underway 4 October 2021. The virtual event will feature more than 30 activities and more than 100 speakers whose presentations will be aligned with the theme ‘Transforming our Food Systems’. A virtual marketplace also forms part of the event that is being hosted by main partners: the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).

His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana and Lead head of Government with responsibility for Agriculture in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, will deliver the keynote address at the opening ceremony.

The Opening will also feature remarks by CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration, Mr. Joseph Cox; Chairman, Board of Directors, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Mr. Ignatius Jean; Deputy Director-General, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Mr. Lloyd Day; Assistant Director-General, LAC, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr. Julio Antonio Berdegué; and President, Agriculture Alliance of the Caribbean (AACARI), Mr. Errington Thompson.

Representatives of the media are invited to cover the following:

Event: Opening Ceremony, Caribbean Week of Agriculture

Date: 4 October 2021

Time: 9 am

The event will be livestreamed on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caricom.org

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/caricomorg

To register to attend and cover events, visit: cwa2021.caricom.org

Decades of development efforts undermined by pandemic – FAO report

Food Security, Food Systems, News, Sustainable Development Goals COVID-19, food security, hunger, pandemic, sustainable development goals

**A farmer harvests potatoes in Manchaybamba**, **Peru** (Photo via IFAD)

(United Nations News) COVID-19 has set back progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), undermining decades of development efforts, according to a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“It’s an alarming picture, in which progress on many SDG targets has been reversed, with a significant impact on all aspects of sustainable development and making the achievement of the 2030 Agenda even more challenging,” said FAO Chief Statistician, Pietro Gennari.

The analysis, Tracking progress on food and agriculture SDG-related indicators, focuses on eight of the SDGs, which were adopted at a UN Summit in New York in 2015.

According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic might have pushed an additional 83 to 132 million people into chronic hunger in 2020, making the target of ending hunger even more distant.

Around 14 percent of all food is lost along the supply chain, before it even reaches the consumer, which FAO considers “an unacceptably high proportion”. Progress has also faltered towards maintaining plant and animal genetic diversity for food and agriculture.

Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2021 launched

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The Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2021 was launched on 15 September 2021 during a ceremony that was held virtually.

The event featured a keynote address by Minister of Agriculture of Guyana, the Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha, and remarks by representatives of the organisations that are partnering to host the week of agricultural activities.

Listen to the ceremony:

Thriving, Productive Agricultural Sector Vital – PM Mottley

agriculture, Food Security, Food Systems, News, Uncategorized agriculture in Barbados, energy, food security, Mia MOttley

(Barbados Government Information Service) Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has reiterated the view that a thriving and productive agricultural sector is important to national food security, and is vital to the economic and social development of Barbados.

Ms. Mottley shared her view as she recently addressed the Global Commodities Forum, which is the inaugural event for the 15^th Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 15).

Issues of Food Security, Water, and the transition to Sustainable Renewable Energy were dealt with at the forum, under the theme: Strengthening Resilience in Commodity Dependent Countries.

In explaining how Barbados is doing its part, the Prime Minister continued: “Energy security is also a crucial element of our strategy. For over 40 years, we have exploited the boundless energy from the sun for solar hot water heaters installed on our roofs across many homes and across many businesses. We have now set a goal for 100 per cent of our electricity to be supplied by renewable energy by 2030.

FAO Calls For More Investment In Small Scale Farming In Haiti

agriculture, Climate change, Food Security, Food Systems, News agriculture, FAO, food insecurity, food security, Haiti earthquake 2021

The community of Les Cayes was destroyed when the 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti last August (Photo via UN News

(United Nations News) Around 980,000 Haitians in the four districts most affected by the August 14 earthquake are now living with acute food insecurity, according to new UN food security data released on Thursday.

Following the release of its findings, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization of (FAO) urgently called for more investment to help rural Haitians go back to small-scale farming and avoid a worsening of the food crisis.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has long been vulnerable on multiple fronts.

Last month’s earthquake destroyed markets, roads, storage and processing facilities, dairies, and irrigation systems. Tropical Storm Grace, which hit days after the seismic event, caused additional damage.

FAO Representative in the country, Jose Luis Fernandez, said that “on top of a succession of disasters and crises, this latest double whammy has left people’s ability to produce and to access food for their families and communities, in tatters.”

Guyana Agriculture Minister says strengthening linkages between agri-food, tourism, health sectors among actions necessary to reposition Caribbean agriculture

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Agriculture Minister of Guyana, Mr. Zulfikar Mustapha

(Department of Public Information) Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said for agriculture to be effectively repositioned in the Caribbean, a number of actions must be taken.

The Minister was at the time addressing the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2021 which was hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The two-day conference saw Ministers of Agriculture from across the region meeting to discuss matters relating to improving agriculture relations across the Caribbean.

While presenting on behalf of the Caribbean region, Minister Mustapha said several actions must be taken to reposition agriculture in the Americas.

“Actions to reposition Caribbean agriculture must include strengthening linkages between the agri-food, tourism and health sectors, establishing public-private partnerships in local food production and processing, implementing climate-smart technologies, and transitioning towards digital agriculture. Therefore, financing for mitigation and adaptation to climate change is more critical today than ever before and is necessary to protect and transform Caribbean food systems,” Minister Mustapha said.

Minister Mustapha also said support from international institutions such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), international financial institutions, and bilateral partners will be critical to ensuring a more resilient agricultural sector and that an immediate priority for the Caribbean is the creation of a vulnerability fund.

Read more at: Department of Public Information

IICA looks forward to Caribbean Week of Agriculture

agriculture, Climate change, Food Security, Food Systems, News #CWA2021, African Swine Fever, agriculture, climate resilience, CWA, IICA, Lloyd Day, SPS

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) recognises the importance of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) as the leading event on the region’s agricultural calendar and welcomes the opportunities the event presents to create strategic partnerships.

As preparations heighten for the hosting of the event 4 – 8 October 2021, under the theme ‘Transforming our Food Systems’, IICA Deputy Director, Mr. Lloyd Day highlighted the role his organization is playing in the virtual event. The organisation, which conceptualised the CWA and has been a key partner from its inception in 1999 is providing logistical, financial and technical support. In addition, IICA will host a number of webinars, for example, on African Swine Fever, sanitary and phyto-sanitary compliance and climate resilience.

Listen as Mr. Day talks about the importance of the week of activities:

Jamaica Gov’t Working To Transform Country’s Food Systems

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Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green (Photo via Jamaica Information Service)

(Jamaica Information Service Press Release) Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, says the Ministry will continue to partner with local and international stakeholders to transform Jamaica’s food systems in order to ensure food security.

“We are serious at the Ministry in working with our European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) partners and across sectors and the Government, to ensure that we reimagine agriculture and fisheries, that we reshape our food systems to make them more sustainable, more equitable, more inclusive especially for our youth and women, more resilient against environment challenges, and more efficient in developing value chains, which can maximise the returns to our rural families and truly transform rural communities,” he said.

Minister Green was addressing Tuesday’s (September 7) opening ceremony for the virtual workshop on ‘Catalysing the Sustainable and Inclusive Transformation of Food Systems’ in Jamaica.

The food system incorporates all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population from growing to harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, distribution and disposal of food and food-related items.

Read more at: Jamaica Information Service

DR Agri Minister Urges America to Apply Emergency Measures to Prevent African Swine Fever

agriculture, Food Security, Food Systems, News African Swine Fever, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, swine industry

Nadège Dorival Montissol, Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development of Haiti; and Limber Cruz López, Minister of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic. (Photo via IICA)

San Jose, 2 September 2021 (IICA). Limber Cruz López, Minister of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, asked the countries of the Americas to join forces in fighting and preventing the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the region. He charged the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to support and execute initiatives to eradicate foci and contain the spread of the virus that is threatening the Hemisphere’s swine industry and the economic stability of small- and medium-scale farmers.

Cruz made his plea during the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2021, an event organized by IICA, and explained the actions his country has taken following the detection and notification of ASF in the country on 29 July.

He highlighted the exchange of information with neighboring Haiti, whose Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Nadège Dorival Montissol, also described their containment plans.

“Our government, from the agriculture cabinet, which is presided over by the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, has assumed the fight against this disease with a deep sense of responsibility and we are implementing the ASF continency and eradication plan with a comprehensive, decentralized focus and the widespread participation of the private sector”, commented Cruz.

PAHO, IICA To Support Food Safety, Food Security, And One Health Projects In The Americas

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*The agreement was signed by Carissa Etienne (l), PAHO Director, and Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.*

(Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture Press Release) The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) will work together to support the countries of the Americas in improving the health and prosperity of rural areas, thereby benefiting the region’s economies.

Priority work areas include One Health and management mechanisms related to food safety programs, antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases.

The agreement was signed by Carissa Etienne, PAHO Director, and Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.

“We signed this agreement to work together against hunger and disease, to safeguard the health and well-being of the people of the Americas. The current times demand our best efforts to ensure the countries stay committed to their development agendas and address the problems threatening health and agriculture”, stated Etienne.

“The One Health policy guides the countries in the actions they must take based on the experience of the actors involved. We’re convinced that we can navigate these challenges only if the health and agriculture sectors work together”, she added.

Manuel Otero expressed that joining forces is essential to tackle the current challenges. He explained that the topic will be discussed on 1-2 September in the framework of the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2021 organized by IICA, at which they will analyse the environmental, social and economic challenges facing the in anticipation of the UN Summit.

“We are going to decide on concrete actions for the many issues we have in common. Both of our institutions work for the well-being of the people: the PAHO from a health standpoint and us from agricultural and rural development, under the philosophy of health focused on animal, environmental and human health”, stated Otero.

In 1983, PAHO and IICA signed a permanent general cooperation agreement that has been updated several times in last 19 years based on the challenges and concerns shared by the agencies.

The common objectives are to contribute to increasing and improving production, health and rural life in the member states of both entities within the Inter-American System.

Following the most recent renewal of the alliance, actions will be aimed at promoting implementation of a culture of effective policies, regulations and programs on food health in the countries of the Americas, including Codex Alimentarius, and exchanging information and experiences on food-related risk analysis.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int