Caribbean Community holds its first agricultural investment forum and exhibition in Guyana

• CATIE is present at the event, represented by its director general, Muhammad Ibrahim.

May 20, 2022. From May 19 to 21, Guyana opened its doors to host the First Caribbean Agricultural Investment Forum and Exhibition. Carla Barnett, secretary general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said during the opening that private investment is crucial for sustained growth in production and productivity in the agricultural sector, emphasizing the forum's theme, "Investing in Vision 25 by 2025."

"We have gathered today to take another important step in our journey towards reducing the regional food import bill by 25% by 2025. This clear goal set by CARICOM Heads of Government requires rebooting our agricultural sector to improve production and productivity and regional intra-trade," Barnett commented. She added that for the Caribbean community, investing in greater food and nutrition security is not only a concept, but an urgent necessity.

CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), as a regional center whose mandate involves the Caribbean region, is represented at this forum by its director general, Muhammad Ibrahim.

In this space, Ibrahim will participate as a panelist in the plenary session entitled Advancing the Agri-Food System Agenda, specifically addressing the implications of research for the commercialization of cocoa and coffee, along with panelists such as Pierce Paul, professor at Ohio State University, and Ansari Hosein, executive director of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI). The panel will be moderated by Julio Berdegue, Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In this session, panelists will exchange views on the opportunities and imperatives that can drive the development of competitive primary production of highly imported commodities such as wheat, corn and soybeans, spices, coconut by-products, coffee and cocoa.

During the forum, Ibrahim also held discussions with John Briceño, prime minister of Belize; José Abelardo Mai, minister of Agriculture of Belize; Lloyd Day, deputy director of IICA; and Wilmot Garnett, representative of the IICA delegation in Guyana. Discussions focused on the importance of cooperation and agri-investment. In turn, CATIE's Director General shared with Irfaan Ali, president of Guyana; and Gale Garnett, vice chair of CATIE's Board of Directors.