The Caribbean Community’s premier agricultural event, the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA), will officially be launched on Thursday through a hybrid ceremony anchored in Jamaica, the host country for this year’s regional gathering.
The week-long event, scheduled for September 27 to October 2, will bring together farmers, youth, entrepreneurs, innovators, policymakers, development partners and other stakeholders from across the Caribbean under the theme “The New FACE of Caribbean Food Systems.”
According to organisers, FACE represents Food Security, Agri-Business, Climate-Smart Technologies, and Export Expansion, reflecting the region’s priorities as Caribbean governments seek to strengthen food production, improve resilience to climate change and expand agricultural trade.
The launch ceremony will feature addresses from several regional leaders and development partners, including Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green; Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, who also chairs the Special Ministerial Task Force on Food Security and Food Production; Carla Barnett, Secretary-General of CARICOM; Muhammad Ibrahim, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture; and representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation, and the CARICOM Secretariat.
CWA is regarded as the region’s flagship agricultural forum, featuring seminars, technical showcases, exhibitions, statutory meetings of regional agricultural organisations and a special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED). The event serves as a platform for discussing food security, agricultural investment, innovation and rural development across the Caribbean.
The initiative was conceptualised by IICA to place agriculture and rural life at the forefront of the regional integration agenda. Organisers say the event seeks to encourage policymakers and private-sector leaders to recognise agriculture’s critical role in the Caribbean’s economic, social and environmental stability while creating opportunities for stakeholders to develop a common vision for advancing the sector.
Since its inception, CWA has evolved into one of the most significant annual gatherings for the Caribbean agricultural community. It is convened under the Alliance for Sustainable Development of Agriculture and the Rural Milieu, with IICA and CARICOM serving as the principal collaborating agencies. The Food and Agriculture Organization and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute later joined as core partners in coordinating the event.
The first Caribbean Week of Agriculture was held in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999. Last year’s event was hosted by Saint Kitts and Nevis under the theme “Sowing Change, Harvesting Resilience: Transforming Our Caribbean Food Systems for 2025 and Beyond.”
This year’s staging in Jamaica marks a milestone 20th edition, with organisers hoping to build momentum around regional efforts to improve food security, modernise agricultural production and expand export opportunities across the Caribbean.
