Guyana will host from October 5 to 12, the twelfth edition of the region’s premier agriculture event, Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA). “We are now at the stage of implementation; we went through a lot of time planning because we wanted to make this a special Caribbean Week of Agriculture,” Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said.
There will be 40 science sessions to mark the week-long celebrations, and several workshops including one on monitoring and management pest population under a changing climate, and another on the development of the coconut industry in the Caribbean.
Several meetings are scheduled including with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean State (OECS) and Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Ministers, and Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
There will, as well, be forums on Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Prices and FAO Food Security Policy, and Agro-tourism among others that will benefit Guyanese farmers, students at the University of Guyana and the Guyana School of Agriculture among others.
Minister Ramsammy said that “these sessions would sometimes be going concurrently. So you will have different rooms with different meetings and farmers and technical people can choose which meeting they are going to.”
From October 9-12, an Exhibition and Trade Show will be staged. Minister Ramsammy said that thus far the ministry has received commitment of participation from 11 exhibitors outside of Guyana. The exhibition will have some competition for local exhibitors because of the hosting of GuyExpo.
That event however, will wrap up just two days before CWA’s exhibition is scheduled to open and Minister Ramsammy expressed hope that this would allow enough time for the local exhibitors to get involved. He said that the ministry is hoping for at least 20 local exhibitors’ participation.
“So we are expecting a high quality, a big reception for Caribbean Week of Agriculture. Already several ministers from the Caribbean have committed to come. We also are expecting for the first time at a Caribbean Week of Agriculture visitors from the Pacific; at least three ministers have requested that they might want to come, and the regional director from FAO will be coming to Guyana,” Minister Ramsammy said.
“It is a great time for us, not only to show what we are doing, but for the Caribbean to show how it is securing its food and how we are engaging in using agriculture to address other needs.”
The Caribbean Week of Agriculture brings together stakeholders for activities to promote agriculture and agri-industry via policy dialoguing, learning sessions and an exhibition showcasing the sector.
The 2013 CWA will be held under the theme ‘Linking the Caribbean for Regional Food and Nutrition Security and Rural development.”
