September 26, 2024
Renata Clarke
Sub-regional Coordinator
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is pleased to join St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the CARICOM Secretariat, and regional development partners to host The Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2024.
In keeping with this year’s theme, “Climate Smart Agriculture for a Sustainable Future”, FAO continues to promote the transformation of the agricultural sector using integrated approaches that include the use of climate smart technologies and tools that have been adapted to the tropics and will increase efficiency in the management of crops, livestock and fisheries.
This year we have collaborated with several partners to deliver technical sessions all aligned with CARICOM’s priority areas.
In light of the growing impact of climate change in the region, we will be leading a collaborative seminar on Disaster Risk Management. Approaches to Agricultural insurance will be shared by the OECS Commission, while the Institute of Migration will be speaking on the impact of climate change on migration in the region. The Government of Canada have also been providing support to building resilience in the region and will be sharing on successful approaches that have been piloted in the agriculture sector in the region.
FAO continues to promote inclusive value chain approaches to stimulate business development and increase market access for smallholder farmers. A key challenge is access to finances by smallholders. Our second seminar will bring insight into innovative approaches to financing value chains. This seminar will feature presentations by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Caribbean Private Sector Organization (CPSO) and investment partners – 17 Asset Management (17AM). This session will feature public private sector partnership opportunities that can facilitate access to much needed finance.
While we are driving value chain development, FAO is also strengthening the statistical capacity of member states. Availability of reliable and accurate data is key to driving development in the sector. Several countries have started their agricultural census. We are also advancing the work to measure the cost and affordability of a healthy diet in the Caribbean to better advise governments on the strategies and options for managing this cost. The food insecurity experience scale that measures household and individual food insecurity is an ongoing process in several countries. We will be collaborating with Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) to share an update on this work.
Our collaboration with the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), will give you an opportunity to hear on approaches to addressing SPS issues and pesticide management based on our global and regional experiences. We are joining the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to discuss approaches to soil and water management.
Our work to boost crop production systems features the use of adapted digital tools and technologies for climate-smart cropping systems that are efficient and affordable including solar pumps for irrigation, and agricultural sensors to monitor the temperature, water quality and soil and water nutrient content using digital applications. In the digital agriculture sessions led by IICA and CARDI, we will be bringing our technical perspectives including the use of data from drone and geospatial analysis for resource management. The Drone and Geospatial team in the Ministry of Agriculture in St Vincent will be sharing on the practical solutions using this technology.
FAO extends gratitude to all partner agencies who are working diligently to plan, produce and execute what is expected to be one of the most high-energy and focused CWA we have attended in years.
We look forward to meeting up with you in St Vincent and the Grenadines! Thank you!
