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Agriculture

Agriculture is a major economic sector in the Caribbean.  In CARICOM, it  continues to generate significant income; facilitate food supply and food and nutrition sovereignty; contribute to  physical and  infrastructural development; and reduce poverty and hunger.  It provides significant employment opportunities in a region where high levels of unemployment continue to be a major concern.

Emerging issues in this sector include Protected Agriculture, Herbals, Organic Agriculture and Agro-energy. Organic Agriculture and Agro-energy  - the last  seeks to generate and validate technologies that facilitate the development of sustainable and competitive industries. Research and development interventions are mainly focused... Read more

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IPPC Regional Workshop for the Caribbean to focus on standards for plant health and pest prevention

Posted: 06 September 2019 - Regional News
2 September 2019 (St Phillip, Antigua) – Official contact points of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and agricultural experts from 14 Caribbean countries will meet for a
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Paying tribute to Dr Jacques Diouf, a visionary in the global fight against hunger

Posted: 03 September 2019 - Regional News
The world recently lost a key advocate in the fight against poverty, hunger and malnutrition. Dr Jacques Diouf, former Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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Bolstering agriculture production through the use of ICTs

Posted: 30 July 2019 - Regional News
CARDI) CARDI Saint Lucia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, hosted a workshop recently on ‘Market Intelligence as a Strategy to Better Manage Climate Change Risks’.
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Caribbean States prepare to battle illegal fishing

Posted: 23 July 2019 - Regional News
Eighteen border control officers from seven Member States of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) are currently undergoing a four-week training course in Fisheries Prosecution and
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Rum Producers Bridging Digital Divide

Posted: 30 May 2019 - Regional News
WIRSPA Secretariat, Bridgetown, Barbados – Caribbean rum brands, members of the regional grouping WIRSPA, have appointed a Community Envoy to further support their efforts to promote the
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Solar farm in Guyana to be commissioned soon

Posted: 21 November 2018 - Regional News
(Department of Public Information) Very soon, residents of Mabaruma, Region One (in Guyana) will benefit from an improved power supply when the new solar farm is added to the generation mix.The
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The Caribbean Reiterates “1.5 Degrees Celsius to Stay Alive”

Posted: 16 October 2018 - Regional News
By Kenton X. ChanceBRIDGETOWN, (InterPressService) – If there is one lesson that Dominican Reginald Austrie has learnt from the devastation Hurricane Maria brought to his country
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Fisheries Ministers approve climate change protocol for CRFM Member States

Posted: 16 October 2018 - Regional News
(CRFM Press Release)—A Protocol on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management in Fisheries and Aquaculture was approved for CARICOM States during a recent high-level
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Caribbean Fisheries Ministers to consider climate change protocol at 8th Special Meeting in Barbados

Posted: 11 October 2018 - Regional News
(Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Press Release)—Fisheries ministers from Member States of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) are expected to deliberate upon a new Protocol
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CARICOM Secretary-General discusses stronger cooperation with Head of IICA

Posted: 11 October 2018 - Regional News
Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque met with Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Manuel Otero, Thursday morning for discussions on
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WTO Members appoint Guyanese as new chair of Agriculture Talks

Posted: 11 May 2018 - Press Releases
Ambassador John Deep Ford of Guyana has taken over as chair of the WTO farm trade talks. WTO members confirmed his appointment at a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session on 9
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Caribbean fish stocks dwindling as illegal fishing intensifies

Posted: 15 March 2018 - Regional News
"Biodiversity in the Caribbean Sea is at serious risk, scientists are warning, with illegal fishing reducing fish stocks and placing the marine
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Coconut Boost For Barbados & Region

Posted: 07 December 2017 - Regional News
Barbados and the region can have a bustling coconut industry, despite being smaller than major growers such as Indonesia and The Philippines.This assertion was made by Maurice Wilson, who is the
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CARDI continues to play vital role in agricultural industries in Caribbean

Posted: 07 December 2017 - Regional News
Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 05, 2017 (SKNIS): Minister of Agriculture of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Honourable Eugene Hamilton, commended the Caribbean Agriculture Research Development
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CRFM, JICA concluding innovative Caribbean Fisheries Co-management project

Posted: 05 December 2017 - Article
BELIZE CITY, BELIZE, Wednesday, 29 November 2017 (CRFM)—An innovative fisheries project, which the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) has been coordinating since 2013 with
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Food Security: A Priority in Dominica

Posted: 31 October 2017 - Regional News
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 — It has been just over a month since the Eastern Caribbean’s ‘food bowl’ was left bare following a direct hit from one of the strongest
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Dominica Minister says Caribbean can learn from its rebuilding efforts

Posted: 19 October 2017 - Regional News
Still recovering from the destruction caused by Tropical Storm Erika two years ago, the small island of Dominica was hit by Hurricane Maria – a category five storm about a month ago.The
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CARDI taking action to help rebuild agriculture in Barbuda, Dominica

Posted: 17 October 2017 - Article
 CARDI Executive Director, Mr. Barton Clarke speaks about reviving agriculture in Barbuda, Dominica from Caribbean Community on Vimeo.As we observe World Food Day
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Antigua and Barbuda adopts ‘different vision’ for agriculture

Posted: 11 October 2017 - Press Releases
With food security as its priority, the government of Antigua and Barbuda is pursuing a “different vision” as it moves to rebuild the agriculture sector of Barbuda which was destroyed
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Effects of climate change in focus at Agriculture Meeting

Posted: 09 October 2017 - Press Releases
The detrimental effect of climate change on the Region was brought in to sharp focus as a special Meeting of Agriculture Ministers got underway at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
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‘Agriculture in Dominica, as we know it, now ceases to exist’ – OECS Commissioner

Posted: 27 September 2017 - Regional News
Hurricane Maria has destroyed the agriculture sector in Dominica. The Category Five hurricane flattened Dominica on 18 September.Both the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency
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Boosting cassava production to improve Region’s food security

Posted: 24 August 2017 - Regional News
  “Cassava is the prioritized commodity for this project, and currently results in a two percent reduction on the food import bill within CARICOM.” Saint Lucia, as one of
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Coconut industry benefits from CARDI project

Posted: 16 August 2017 - Regional News
Since the implementation of the Caribbean Coconut Industry Development Project two-and-a-half years ago, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) has made
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What does ‘climate-smart agriculture’ really mean? New tool breaks it down

Posted: 16 August 2017 - Article
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Aug 14 2017 (IPS) - A Trinidadian scientist has developed a mechanism for determining the degree of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) compliance with respect to projects,
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Parliamentarians fighting against hunger in Latin America, Caribbean

Posted: 03 August 2017 - Regional News
Bridgetown, Barbados  – The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean in Barbados, last month hosted
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Agriculture stakeholders discuss regional food safety

Posted: 03 May 2017 - Press Releases
May 2, 2017 — In an effort to enhance the quality of agricultural produce in the Region, food safety stakeholders convened in Barbados from April 25-26, 2017 to discuss the improvement of
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Policy-makers discuss way forward for Region’s sugar industry

Posted: 27 March 2017 - Press Releases
The ability of sugar industry in the Region to survive after the removal of production quotas in the European Union (EU) on September 30, 2017, will depend on improved competitiveness and
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Guyana’s farmers can contribute to regional food security – President David Granger

Posted: 13 February 2017 - Regional News
By HE David A Granger MSS The world is likely to face a food crisis by 2050 unless agricultural production increases. The Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that there will be an additional
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Agriculture, climate change, renewable energy to benefit as IDB carves out $13B for lending

Posted: 24 January 2017 - Regional News
NASSAU, The Bahamas, Jan 23 2017 – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said it will be lending US$13 billion over the coming year and a significant portion of that amount has been
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The Netherlands flag key areas for cooperation expansion

Posted: 18 January 2017 - Press Releases
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Netherlands on Wednesday renewed a mechanism for diplomatic cooperation with the accreditation of a new envoy to CARICOM, His Excellency Jules Bijl.In a
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  • Agri-business Strategy: Forging beneficial linkages with other sectors such as tourism continues to be an objective for the sector. The Agri-business Strategy recognises a non-traditional approach to the sector’s development, which reaches beyond the confines of the farm and into the factories, restaurants and hotels. One where the consumer is given a menu of choices that are appropriate to the lifestyles of busy, urban residents who cannot be expected to spend the time on food preparation that their grandparents did; in this vein, CARICOM Ministers endorsed a Plan of Action for Strengthening Regional Agriculture-tourism linkages.
  • A Regional Agricultural Information Platform The role of modern information technologies in supporting all aspects of the sector was also emphasised, and ministers noted the progress to establish a Regional Agricultural Information Platform for the sharing of information among stakeholders in the agro-food sector.  In furtherance of the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Action Plan  member states have  been preparing their national food and nutrition security actions plans, with the assistance of  the Food and Agriculture Organsation.
  • Regional Market Information and Intelligence System: The establishment of a Regional Market Information and Intelligence System for agricultural products has been on the Agenda for some time, and with the coming on stream of the Intra-ACP Agricultural Policy Programme, steps have already been taken to put such a system in place. The system will build on the work already done at the national level in some Member States. In addition, a Regional Agricultural Statistics Database will be created to bring together all the key statistics on the sector, thereby facilitating better access by producers and policy makers.
  • Eliminating  trade barriers: A project is currently being implemented aimed at eliminating the remaining barriers to trade in agricultural products and will focus on identifying measures such as non-conforming “sanitary and phytosanitary” regulations and import licencing controls, while instituting programmes for their removal. This will ensure, for example, that a food processor in any one Member State will be better able to access inputs from any other Member State without hindrance, and as a result, be able to forge stronger on-going linkages with primary producers in the rest of CARICOM.
  • Regional value chains: There is also a renewed regional focus on strengthening regional value chains built on specific priority products. Currently, regional programmes are being implemented for root and tuber crops (especially cassava and sweet potatoes), herbs and spices (in particular hot peppers) and small ruminants (sheep and goats). These projects recognize the need to integrate production, processing, marketing, and other down-stream activities into commercially viable and sustainable arrangements within which information (e.g. quantities and grades required) is effectively transmitted to the various points of the networks, resulting in more predictable outcomes.
  • Caribbean Week of Agriculture - The Caribbean Week of Agriculture CWA), the premier agricultural event on the Region's calendar, brings together stakeholders for a week of activities to promote agriculture and agri-industry via policy dialoguing, learning sessions, and an exhibition showcasing the fruits of the sector.