GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) — The Guyana-based Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat Wednesday said that Jamaica will host this year’s edition of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA).

The secretariat said that the 20th CWA will be launched today with speeches by Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green, chair of the Special Ministerial Task Force on Food Security and Food Production; Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha; Dr Muhammad Ibrahim, the director general of the Inter-American Institute for cooperation on agriculture (IICA); and Rene Orellana Halkyer, assistant director general, regional representative, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Caricom Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett and Dr Patrick Antoine, chief executive officer and technical director, Caricom Private Sector Organisation (CPSO), will also address the hybrid ceremony.

The CWA is the region’s premier agricultural event that features seminars; statutory meetings of regional agriculture organisations, and other key forums, including a special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).

It will be held from September 27 to October 2 and will bring together farmers and youth, entrepreneurs, innovators, policymakers, partners, and other stakeholders under the theme ‘The New FACE of Caribbean Food Systems’.

FACE represents Food Security, Agri-Business, Climate-Smart Technologies, and Export Expansion.

CWA was conceptualised by IICA as a facility to place agriculture and rural life on the front burner of regional integration activities.