From all reports, this year’s 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny is getting a passing grade.

Already we have heard that the week of activities, running from September 27 to October 2, has attracted the largest turnout in the event’s history.

Under the theme ‘The New FACE of Caribbean Food Systems’, the presentations have unearthed thought-provoking ideas, recognised advances, and created a space for planning for securing the region’s future.

Assistant secretary general for economic integration, innovation and development at the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat Dr Wendell Samuel shared that CWA has more than 800 participants.

“Last year, in St Kitts, there were about 500 to 600 people and each year it grows bigger and bigger and there is a reason for that. Value has been created by having the CWA. We are bringing people together to do things that they won’t do on their own,” he told JIS News in an interview.

“Nothing succeeds like success, and as the CWA succeeds, everyone wants to participate, and it is becoming bigger and bigger,” he continued.

The conference reflects Caricom’s mandate in agriculture to increase co-operation between the countries to strengthen the resilience of the sector.

Dr Samuel gave a salute to the hosts, Jamaica, under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.

“[T]here was Hurricane Melissa and everyone thought, well, maybe we should not do it given the reconstruction. Jamaica insisted on having the 20th CWA here and what it has shown is that all of the policies that the Government of Jamaica has put in place to build resilience, to build forward stronger, are working. Because what you find is that Jamaica has recovered so quickly and the success of CWA 20 is basically confirmation that all of the policies to build resilience that the Government has been putting in place, are working,” he said.

With food security and creating a world free of hunger by 2030 as Goal #2 among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, global food security remains a critical challenge, with 7.8 per cent of the world’s population facing hunger and 2.1 billion people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025.

And, with the opposite phase El Niño/La Niña systems impacted weather conditions, particularly rainfall, in the region, the challenges continue to mount.

Still, talk at this year’s CWA is that region is prepared to weather whatever storms.

The heads of Government for Caricom put in place what was called the 25 by 2025 initiative to reduce the import bill of the region by 25 per cent by the year 2025. More recently, they have extended that to 2030 and they now call it the 25 by 2025 plus 5. This is to ensure that together we can feed ourselves no matter what happens. This level of planning, undergirded by the CWA, can only redound to the benefit of the region.

Dr Samuel said, by the end of the conference, the main hope is that countries recommit to achieving the goals of vision 25 by 2025 plus 5.

CWA, therefore, serves as a call to action for people to do things to make sure the goals are achieved, especially in the areas of technology and innovation.

The mission will be never-ending, so too must be the coordinated approach to planning and preparation.

This display of regional co-operation is yet another thing to celebrate.