The Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) is privileged and honoured to join the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and regional partners in celebrating the 17th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) 2023.

In recent years, CARICOM Member States have faced unprecedented challenges and threats to their food security, including those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and agricultural pests and diseases. We commend the theme of the 2023 CWA, “Accelerating Vision 25 by 2025,” which supports the Community’s goal of reducing its $5 billion food import bill by 25% by 2025 through implementing food and nutrition programs. The agriculture sector plays a crucial role in improving food security, and CAHFSA is ready to assist in advancing regional and national agricultural health and food safety systems to enable the sustainable transformation of the agricultural sector and enhance food and nutritional security across the region.

CWA 2023 offers an opportunity to enhance stakeholder engagement and forge partnerships with significant actors and donors in the Caribbean’s Agri-Food system. We hope to leverage these partnerships to encourage more investments in the sector, identify innovative methods to strengthen our agrifood systems, increase production, encourage intra-regional food trade, and ultimately reduce our high food import bill.

Throughout the week, CAHFSA will collaborate with regional and international agencies to host informative events focused on strengthening the resilience of the agricultural sector in the Caribbean. During our sessions, we will cover various topics such as sustainable agriculture, agroecology, the One Health Approach, and implementing biosafety legislation in the Caribbean region using an integrated approach.  

We thank the Government of the Bahamas for hosting this week of agricultural activities. We look forward to engaging in lively discussions and receiving your valuable input as we work towards strengthening the agricultural sector for better food security in the Caribbean.