food Archives - Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) 2021

Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2021 promises to be unique, game-changing

agriculture, COVID-19, Food Security, Food Systems, News, Uncategorized agriculture, Caribbean Week of Agriculture, CWA, food, Shaun Baugh

Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) scheduled for 4-8 October, promises to be a unique, game-changing event, according to Shaun Baugh, Programme Manager, Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Development at the CARICOM Secretariat.

‘Transforming our food systems’ is the theme of the week of activities that reflects the food systems thrust that the world is now undertaking, given the current challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Baugh, who is the coordinator of the event, is warning that if we are not careful, we run the risk of moving from a health crisis to a food security crisis. To stave off such an eventuality, some of the activities of the CWA will focus on new ways of propagation, the use of climate smart technologies, new irrigation methods, and a showcase of the use and versatility of the Region’s foods.

The main collaborating agencies for the event are the CARICOM Secretariat, the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Regional institution such as the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism CRFM) and the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) will also be involved.

Pope to UN forum: Hunger is ‘crime’ violating basic rights

Food Security, Food Systems, News food, food security, food systems, human rights, hunger

**At the Farmers’ Market held during the Pre-Summit on Monday, 26 July 2021** (Photo via UN)

The summit idea was launched in 2019 months before the coronavirus emerged, but Italian Premier Mario Draghi said the pandemic made existing threats to food security more urgent.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday decried as criminal the existence of hunger in a world which can produce enough food for all, building on a warning from the chief of the United Nations that climate change and conflict are both a consequence and a driver of poverty and income inequality.

Earlier in the day, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a meeting in Rome via video message that the world’s food system generates a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. That same system is responsible for as much as 80% of biodiversity loss, he lamented in a video message.

The gathering was called to help prepare for a U.N. food systems summit to be held in September in New York.

In a written message that was read to meeting participants, Francis said the coronavirus pandemic has “confronted us with the systemic injustices that undermine our unity as a human family.”