Solutions for Agricultural Challenges Expected from CWA

The 20th staging of Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) is expected to produce a definitive plan of action to address the structural challenges affecting agriculture across the region.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, said the six-day event (September 27 to October 2) will provide an opportunity for governments, farmers, private-sector interests and other stakeholders to move beyond identifying challenges and develop solutions that can be implemented.

“For us, it’s an opportunity to bring together the principal actors from across the region into the same space to confront the structural issues that continue to constrain agriculture, but more than confront them, to advance practical solutions which will be implemented,” he said.

Speaking during a media briefing at the Ministry’s Office in Kingston, on Tuesday (September 22), Minister Green said the plan will focus on measures to accelerate agricultural development, strengthen regional food security, advance agribusiness and expand the use of climate-smart technologies.

The CWA 2026 will be hosted by the Government of Jamaica, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.

The event will be held at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny. The programme will consist of 75 technical sessions, daily plenaries, ministerial meetings, Exhibition and Trade show, business-to-business engagements, and field visits.

For additional information, persons are encouraged to visit CWA2026.caricom.org.

“Out of this CWA, we will craft a definitive plan of action for the region in relation to what is really needed to grow the sector in the shortest possible time and to drive our food security, drive our agribusiness development, ensure we’re including climate-smart technologies and expanding exports across the region,” he said.

He underscored that implementation must be central to the regional discussions, noting that identifying solutions will have little value if action is not taken.

“I had said at the launch that we don’t want this to be a talk show. As a region, we are very good at talking, but oftentimes we fall down on implementation,” the Minister said.

He said one of the areas requiring greater attention is the mobilisation of capital to support the transformation of agriculture, noting that private-sector involvement will be important in expanding production and developing stronger agricultural value chains.

“We do believe the private sector has to drive the transformation of the region’s agriculture,” he said.

The Minister argued that farmers must also be central to determining the solutions needed to strengthen the region’s food systems.

“This is not just government, this is not just the private sector, but a number of our delegates and farmers from across the region that will lead a lot of this conversation about what needs to be done to help drive our regional food security,” he said.

He said the region will also examine progress towards reducing its reliance on food imports from outside the Caribbean.

Minister Green noted that the region had initially set a target of reducing extra regional food imports by 25 per cent by 2025, but the deadline was subsequently moved to 2030 following a series of shocks. “We’re going to look at the progress on that,” he said.

Additionally, climate resilience will also form part of the discussions, particularly measures to protect producers from increasingly frequent weather-related shocks.

The Minister pointed to Hurricane Beryl in 2024, Hurricane Melissa in 2025 and the current drought as recent tests of Jamaica’s agricultural resilience.

“Our resilience has been tested like never before in recent years,” he said.

He said the experience has provided Jamaica with lessons that can contribute to the wider regional effort to strengthen agricultural systems.

“Our responsibility now is to use those experiences alongside our regional partners to help develop practical solutions that will make our farmers, our food systems and, ultimately our region more resilient,” he said.

Mr. Green said the need for transformation is underscored by the vulnerability of Caribbean countries to climate shocks, while the region also has the potential to increase food production.

“The challenges have become more complex but so too have the opportunities,” he said.

CWA 2026 will be held under the theme ‘The New FACE of Caribbean Food Systems’, with discussions expected to examine how the region can build more resilient food systems while strengthening agricultural production, investment and trade.

Minister Green said the ultimate objective is to ensure that the outcomes from the event translate into concrete measures for the development of Caribbean agriculture.

“And that is the opportunity that stands before us in CWA 2026,” he said.