Enabling agricultural investment in Caribbean for effective response, post-COVID-19 recovery

Top stakeholders in agriculture and economics in the Caribbean are among officials who will participate in a webinar on Thursday 7 May, to discuss agricultural investment during and post-COVID-19.

The online discussion is one of several coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. It is co-organised with the CARICOM Secretariat, whose Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration, Mr Joseph Cox, is one of the speakers. Other presenters include the Hon. Saboto Caesar, Minister of Agriculture, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Chair of CARICOM Agriculture Sector COVID-19 Response Task Force; Máximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist and Assistant Director General of FAO, Economic and Social Department (ES-FAO); and Patrick Antoine, Caribbean Private Sector Organization Representative.

The FAO said the webinar will focus on ‘Enabling agricultural investment in the Caribbean for an effective response and post-COVID-19 recovery’.

Many Caribbean countries are threatened by potential disruptions in their food systems and agricultural production as COVID-19 continues to spread. The abrupt drop in the tourism activity also threatens to generate a recession, and the arrival of the hurricane season completes a complex scenario for all Caribbean countries, the FAO said.

In this context, recovering and strengthening the region’s agri food systems has become a strategic priority, both for the food and nutritional security of the countries, and as a means to generate new sources of income for the rural sectors.

The webinar on Thursday is the fifth of the  FAO-COVID-19 and Food Systems Series, co-organized with the strategic collaboration of the CARICOM Secretariat.

The webinar begins at 12:00 PM Barbados time (UTC -4), with a foreword by Julio Berdegué, FAO Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, and by Renata Clarke, FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for the Caribbean (SLC).

Speakers:

Máximo Torero Cullen – Chief Economist and Assistant Director General of FAO, Economic and Social Department (ES-FAO)
“Coronavirus: The Food Supply Chain Under Pressure What Can We Do?”

Saboto Caesar – Minister of Agriculture, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Chair of CARICOM Agriculture Sector COVID-19 Response Task Force
“CARICOM COVID-19 Food and Security Action Plan Coordination and Implementation”

Joseph Cox – CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration
Blueprint for Transitioning to Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery

Patrick Antoine – Caribbean Private Sector Organization Representative
“Private Sector Leading Growth in the Region in a post COVID-19 world”

Selected experts will pose questions following the presentations:

·         Michael Clifton Pintard, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, the Bahamas

·         Jeremy Stephen, Economist

·         Lystra Fletcher-Paul, FAO Former Sub-regional Coordinator SRC-SLC

This initiative is part of the agreement made between 11 international organizations present in the region to coordinate their actions and provide technical support to governments in order to keep agri-food trade alive, expand social protection systems, reach common sanitary and phytosanitary standards, and increase intraregional trade.

FAO together with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have launched the weekly newsletter Analysis and responses of Latin America and the Caribbean to the effects of COVID-19 on food systems, and have a web portal updated with the most relevant information worldwide on the pandemic.

The online conference will be held in English and can be followed online, with these options:

You can access the conference from YouTube by clicking here.

If you want to have the presentations of the exhibitors and download your certificate of participation, you must register on the virtual platform of the Public Policies Training Center by clicking here. (Adapted from FAO Media Advisory)

Source: CARICOM TODAY