COVID-19 Webinar focuses on investment in agriculture, fisheries

(Food and Agriculture Organisation) The economic impact of COVID-19 has imposed the need for urgent investments in food systems, agriculture and fisheries, especially with the drop in tourism in Caribbean countries. New approaches to public investment are needed to accelerate recovery efforts, and the private sector has a fundamental role to play in this recovery, in particular as a booster of innovation and productivity.

Public-private partnership experiences in agriculture can be helpful to identify the major challenges in order to join public and private resources for an inclusive recovery and a sustainable development of agri-food systems.

The 13^th FAO regional COVID-19 webinar, “Private Sector Investment in Agriculture and Fisheries: The Preparation and the Pay-Off”, co-organised with the CARICOM Secretariat will focus on public policies, legal frameworks and innovative ways of expanding private sector investment in agriculture.

The webinar will take place on Thursday, 2 July 2020 – 12:00 PM Barbados time (UTC -4), with opening remarks by Julio Berdegué, Assistant Director-General of FAO and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, and closing comments by Renata Clarke, FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for the Caribbean (SLC). The webinar will count with the participation of high-level authorities and experts from the private and public sector. 

Speakers:

• Jose Apulche, COE, Ministry of Agriculture, Belize – Public-private partnership and strategic public funding to leverage private sector investment in agriculture 
• Diane Edwards, President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) – Facilitating foreign direct investment in regional agribusiness development: where do we stand and how can we do better?
• Keith Flett,  Managing Co-Founder, One Skip, LLC – A model for sustainable and inclusive fisheries value chain development in the Caribbean
• Ralph Birkhoff, CEO Alquimi Renewables – Practical ad real solutions: Making Public and Private Partnership in the Agriculture Sector work

Selected experts will pose questions following the presentations:

• Joseph Cox – CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General
• Luther St. Ville, Senior Operations Officer (Agriculture), CDB 
• Michael Clifton Pintard, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, the Bahamas (to be confirmed)
• Jeremy Stephen, Economist 

Moderator: Shaun Baugh, Agriculture Programme Manager, CARICOM Secretariat

This initiative led by the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean is part of the agreement made between 11 international organisations 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 intra-regional trade.

FAO together with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have launched a 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 by clicking here.

If you want to download the speaker´s presentations and the participation certificate, you can access the Public Policies Training Center´s virtual platform by clicking here. Certificates will be available on Friday, 3 July 2020.

For questions, please contact us: rlc-nucleo@fao.org 

Source: CARICOM TODAY