President of Agriculture Alliance of the Caribbean (AACARI), Errington Thompson has called on all Caribbean countries to “act fast” as the region’s food systems, environment and economic state continues to worsen.
His call came at the virtual opening ceremony of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) 2021, 16th edition. The event was held on October 4th 2021 and was CWA’s first ever online meeting.
This year, CWA was hosted under the theme “Transforming Our Food Systems”.
“The circumstances in which we find ourselves do not allow us the luxury of procrastination. There’s COVID-19, climate change, food shortages, escalating crises and weak economies. We must act now and act fast. This time must be our call for commitment to action,” Thompson warned.
He said the theme implies that “all of us in the region” are at the same place and level of transformation, and with 2030 just 9 years away, Caribbean countries must be mindful of their pledge to the sustainable development goal “no one is left behind”. Thompson added that countries have a duty “to reinvigorate our region to fulfill their pledge to suitable development goal 2 (zero hunger) and goal 3 (good health and well-being.)”
“We should envision a Comprehensive Food and Agricultural Production System (CFAPS) as the goal. [In] this plan we call for every country to make sacrifices and calls for us to put aside our individual aspirations when trying to solve the problem for food security and work for the common good,” he said.
Thompson further explained what CFAPS is capable of accomplishing. These include: to ensure that food production is safe and all actors are aware of the role they play in food safety, to allow the smooth flow of food from producers to market, guarantee that the market is established with agreements in place and ensure the logistics in shipping are secure and available.
Other key factors which will be achieved consist of; posing new farming methods such as climate smart agriculture and cause more young people, women, disable and nontraditional workers to join the sector and be empowered.
AACARI’s president also called on all regional governments and agreements of leaders to establish their roles of engagement and to accept the call for commitment to action and to advocate resources for CFAPS’s implementation.
He said a regional body of experts from every country can be recommended to coordinate activities with timeframes and milestones. The representative on the regional body will lead the delegation in his or her respective country drilling down to lower levels.
“Their initial task will be data collection which can evolve from sensors of agriculture, sanctioned by the respective governments. The sensors should be done simultaneously in every country to have the most impactful results which could include a record of every famer, fisher and crops grown which are best suited for each country,” Thompson stated.
Thompson reiterated AACARI’s commitment to and support for regional governments and all other organizations who continue to make “an invaluable contribution to the region.”
The CWA event was staged with the collaboration of other major organizations such as the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
The virtual event featured at least 32 activities and more than 100 speakers with a virtual marketplace which also formed part of the novel event.
Achievable if we in the region, commit, regularly measure progress, and hold ourselves accountable.