Home  Regional News FAO renews its commitment to regional agriculture partnership
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FAO renews its commitment to regional agriculture partnership |
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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 |
Delegates from 16 Caribbean nations attended 5 days of training and planning for the regional agriculture sector.
Barbados – 10 March 2009 – A recent regional workshop convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has successfully equipped delegates to effectively plan for the medium term development of Caribbean agriculture. This is the opinion of Dr. Barbara Graham, FAO’s Sub-regional Representative for the Caribbean, on completion of the organization’s Fourth Annual National Medium Term Priority Framework meeting, held from 2-6 March at United Nations House in Barbados.
The workshop was opened with an address by the Honourable Haynesley Benn, Barbados’ Minister of Agriculture and Mr. Sam Lawrence, Senior Advisor, Agriculture Development, CARICOM Secretariat. Both highlighted the need for greater capital investment in agriculture as well as the utilization of new technologies in the field.
Dr. Graham also took the opportunity to launch 3 new FAO publications - The State of Food and Agriculture 2008, The State of Food Insecurity 2008 and The State of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2008. These publications provide up to date information on developments impacting regional food security including rising food prices, the energy crisis, climate change and biofuels as well as the link between food insecurity and health. All 3 publications are available for download free of charge from www.fao.org.
Participants were drawn from ministries responsible for agriculture in 16 regional countries. This year’s session focused on training in Results Based Management, a system of strategic planning being implemented by FAO, designed to ensure the most effective use of its resources and the best possible outcomes for Member Nations. Delegates were given the opportunity to share some of their national objectives for the sector and to learn about initiatives being offered by other regional agencies including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM).
On the final day of the workshop, participants were given the opportunity to leave the classroom and get out into the field to see a number of agricultural projects being developed in Barbados. The trip took them to Walkers Dairy Farm in St. George as well as to HydroGrow Farms, a 10 acre greenhouse facility in St. Thomas. Both projects showcased the use of some of the latest technology and techniques in modern agriculture and sparked a flurry of questions from delegates curious to share information with agriculturalists in their home territories.
According to Dr. Graham, the week was challenging but should produce sustainable benefits to the region’s agriculture in the long run. “We must not lose sight of the fact that the number of hungry persons in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased to around 10 million in the last couple of years. The uncertainties in world food security (rising food prices, biofuel production and climate change) will continue to pose challenges for the Caribbean as long as the region remains heavily dependent on imports to satisfy demand for food and inputs for agriculture production. Now more than ever before, the FAO is committed to bringing to bear its competencies in agriculture and food production - in crops and livestock production, fisheries and forestry management. We intend to provide technical assistance that results in positive changes for regional agriculture, including those persons whose livelihoods and food security are integrally linked to the sector.”
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