Stakeholders preparing for 2025 Caribbean Week of Agriculture in St Kitts and Nevis

Sowing Change, Harvesting Resilience: Transforming our Caribbean Food Systems for 2025 and Beyond” is the theme of the 19th edition of Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA), which is scheduled to take place in Saint Kitts and Nevis from September 29 to October 3.

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) said once again, they will be one of the co-organizers, thus demonstrating the continued commitment of the specialized hemispheric agency for agricultural and rural development to the Caribbean countries, where it is executing various cooperation projects to build a resilient agriculture sector in the region.

IICA Director General, Manuel Otero participated in the virtual launch of CWA, along with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Samal Duggins, and representatives of other regional and international agencies involved in organizing the event, such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a release from IICA dated July 18, 2025 states.

Caribbean Week of Agriculture is the most important event in the region’s agriculture calendar. It includes seminars, key meetings and field visits and is attended by the major decision-makers in the public and private agriculture sector of the Caribbean.

CWA was first held in 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago and has since grown and evolved, becoming a signature event and the main strategic forum shaping the agricultural agenda of the region. St Vincent and the Grenadines, hosted the 2024 event that attracted more than 500 participants, and focussed on climate smart agriculture.

Otero remarked that historically agriculture has been a driving force for Caribbean societies and, given the current challenges of food insecurity and economic vulnerability affecting the region, developing resilient food systems will be essential for ensuring resilient societies.

He explained that “IICA celebrates the advances made in regional food production through CARICOM’s ‘Twenty-five by 2025’ initiative, which is seeking to reduce food import dependence, and which has been extended to 2030 due to the impact of Hurricane Beryl and global supply chain disruptions”.

IICA’s technical cooperation agenda includes projects to strengthen extension services as a means of improving productivity, employment and rural resilience; to support coastal communities; to install digital fabrication labs to encourage youth- and women-led innovation; to diversify agricultural production to improve food security and value creation; to develop bio-economy models for sustainable management of organic waste; and to improve the water security of small farmers in a bid to improve their competitiveness and climate resilience.

By way of a virtual presentation, Otero noted that, “Caribbean Week of Agriculture reflects the collective effort of Caribbean governments, partners for development, and technical agencies committed to strengthening the region’s agri-food systems, through inclusive, innovative and original solutions”.

“Let us continue working shoulder to shoulder with countries, farmers and institutions to build a Caribbean where agriculture grows, people prosper, and nature is protected”, he urged in his closing remarks.