CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana
Saturday, 27 September 2025
The opening ceremony of the 19th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) will be held on Monday 29 September 2025, at the St. Kitts Marriott Beach Resort, Casino & Spa, Frigate Bay, St. Kitts and Nevis.
The week of activities will shine a spotlight on agriculture in the Region, under the theme ‘Sowing Change, Harvesting Resilience: Transforming Our Caribbean Food Systems for 2025 and Beyond’.
The Hon. Dr. Geoffrey Ian Hanley, Deputy Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, will deliver the keynote address at the opening. Other speakers will include the Hon. Samal Duggins, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources of St. Kitts and Nevis; Dr. Manuel Otero, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Dr. Wendell Samuel, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Economic Integration, Innovation and Development; Dr. Renata Clarke, Sub-regional Coordinator for the Caribbean of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations; Mr. Brian Bogart, Representative and Country Director, World Food Programme Caribbean Multi-Country Office and Mr. Ansari Hosein, Executive Director, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
Mr. Miguel Flemming, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, Dr. Femi Ogunseinde, Executive Director, Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) of Nigeria, and Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of Nigeria, will also make remarks, while Ms. YuShaner Jeffers, Director of Agriculture (Ag.), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources will deliver the vote of thanks.
The CARICOM Farmer of the Year and CARICOM Young Farmer of the Year Awards will be presented during the ceremony.
At the CWA this year, there will be technical workshops that will focus on connecting capital with opportunity, and will include sessions on farmer-led innovations; harnessing sargassum; commercialising agriculture value chains; driving climate resilience; digital solutions to improve agriculture food systems; regenerative agriculture; small-scale fisheries; cultivating leadership and inclusion; and the African Swine Fever Surveillance and response capacity-building.
The week will feature high level ministerial engagements, including a Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture; Meetings of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Agriculture Ministers; and Board of Directors Meetings of the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
Other events include an exhibition, an Agriculture Day and Marine Expo, and a honey show by CARICOM and the OECS.
