Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Curt Delice

Special Affairs Coordinator for the Caribbean Region/IICA Representative in Suriname

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is indeed pleased to join with our esteemed partner institutions, CARICOM Secretariat, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and others to launch this very important event: the 18^th Caribbean Week of Agriculture.

We recognize and thank the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as our host country to this year’s CWA and we are grateful to Minister Saboto for his persistence and support in making this happen. We also remain extremely grateful for the continued collaboration with our regional and international partners, as we subscribe firmly to the ethos that only through consistent collective action, we can rise to the challenge of sustainably developing our countries and by extension the Region.

We congratulate the organisers for arriving at this most relevant theme for CWA18: Climate Smart Agriculture for a Sustainable Future. This is very appropriate in the context of the times in which we are living where climate variability has resulted in severe impacts on countries across the world and indeed within the Caribbean Region, which is one of the most vulnerable geographic zones to climate change on the planet.

I hope it has not been lost upon us that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outlook for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30, predicts an 85% chance of an above-normal season, and is forecasting a range of 17 to 25 total named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). To put it in blunt terms, we are once again on a knife’s edge, and we must be prepared.   We have lived experience that when disaster strikes, our ability to feed ourselves is the sole consideration after ensuring safety.

Next year, we will be looking to the results of Vision 25 by 2025, and our ability to adapt to, and adopt an agriculture which is more responsive to climate change is a key underlying factor determining our level of success in achieving Vision 25 by 2025.

IICA has pledged its full commitment to supporting Vision 25 by 2025, and our key hemispheric initiatives are all centred around scientific bases to strengthen the capacity of member states and the region in achieving a climate smart agriculture sector. Supporting this objective, are a number of key institutional initiatives, amongst them: Water and Agriculture Initiative launched on September 27^th, 2023 in collaboration with representatives of key hemispheric institutions and countries, such as the Ministers of Agriculture, World Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), UNECLAC and the University of Nebraska. The water and agriculture initiative has the objective of:  1. Consolidate capacities and promote strategic public –private partnerships; 2. Improve the integrated management and efficient use of water in agriculture; and, 3. Strengthen water governance water governance institutions and mechanisms. 

Another key initiative is our Living Soils of the Americas initiative, which was launched in December 2020, and is spearheaded by IICA and the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center (CMASC) at Ohio State University led by Dr. Rattan Lal, the rationale here is to unite public and private efforts in fighting soil degradation, as the fact that too often, soil is left out of the dialogue or is not sufficiently highlighted in the climate change discourse, but it is so important, because soil degradation, is a phenomenon that threatens to undermine countries’ capacity to sustainably meet the food demand.  So, the objective of the Living soils of the Americas initiative: 1. Reduction of GHG emissions from agricultural systems; 2. Increase the area of cultivated land under validated soil management practices that increase soil health and soil carbon stocks, and ecosystem services; and, 3. Enhance productivity and resilience of farms and farmers and global food security.

It is very important to note, that within the context promoting South-South Technical Cooperation, IICA joined the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) on May 2, 2024, to launch its Living Soils Initiative in Africa, which we believe is important for expanding actions and knowledge on climate-resilient agricultural practices adapted to the African context.

Earlier I referenced the critical matter of the need for collective action. IICA is a champion of collective action, recognizing that all countries must work together, based on their shared interests and needs, to find joint solutions to common problems, generate supranational public goods and develop national technopolitical capacities in strategic areas. As such, IICA has been championing an initiative called the HEMISPHERIC PARTNERSHIP FOR FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE AMERICAS, to foster collective action amongst the countries of the region to promote and implement a new generation of policies and to strengthen capacities to facilitate the development of more resilient, inclusive, sustainable, profitable and competitive agriculture sectors and agrifood systems.  CWA gives a platform to pursue the strengthening of the Caribbean participation in such a partnership.

In addition to the events that we will hosts at this CWA, we at IICA recommit our full support to the wider effort to ensure that CWA18 is a resounding success. We wish to extend our sincere thanks to the Minister Honourable Saboto Caesar, and the Government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for agreeing to host CWA18 and to taking on this challenging task. We are well aware of the rich history of agriculture in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and its reputation as one of the breadbaskets of the Sub-Region. We look forward to experiencing firsthand, the great potential of this region’s agriculture come October 2024.

We encourage all stakeholders to drive the promotion efforts in your networks of influence so that we can have the best participation possible, and a successful event.   Our IICA team look forward to welcoming and engaging you at CWA 2024 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, October 7 to 11, 2024.

Thank you!