The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), convened its Annual Accountability Seminar on Tuesday, June 21 at the Kingstown Cooperative Credit Union’s conference room.

IICA’s Technical Specialist, Michael Dalton explained that, “the seminar is an important component of the institutional culture of accountability to those” to whom the institute provides services, namely,”national authorities and other stakeholders, groups and individuals”.

Dalton also made a presentation of the 2018 Annual Report titled: IICA’s Contribution to the Development of Agriculture and Rural Life in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a release from the Ministry of Agriculture states.

Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar acknowledged that, “We are in challenging times” and he proceeded to give an appreciation of accountability “by way of reflection as to where we are today”.

The minister recalled that about 30 years ago, policymakers around the region advocated the expansion of other sectors at the expense of agriculture, only to admit that food security is the biggest issue that countries need to address.

The forum was used to review the main activities carried out by IICA during the past year.