SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations will be organizing a webinar about COVID-19 and Food Systems under the banner, “Enabling agriculture investment in the Caribbean for an effective response and post-COVID-19 recovery.”
The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) along with its regional partner the Caribbean Chambers of Commerce (CARICHAM), is inviting local businesses as well as those with an affinity to agriculture development, to participate in the free webinar.
According to the FAO, “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and many Caribbean countries are threatened by potential disruptions in their food systems and agricultural production. The abrupt drop in the tourism activity also threatens to generate a recession, and the arrival of the hurricane season completes a complex scenario for all Caribbean countries.
“In this context, recovering and strengthening the region’s Agri food systems has become a strategic priority, both for the food and nutritional security of the countries, and as a means to generate new sources of income for the rural sectors.
“The FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean has taken the task to coordinate and carry out a series of discussions, through online conferences, focused on the effects of COVID-19 on the agri-food system.”
This is the fifth webinar of the FAO-COVID-19 and Food Systems Series, co-organized with in collaboration with the CARICOM Secretariat.
The webinar will take place on Thursday, 7 May 2020 – 12:00 PM Barbados time (UTC -4), with a foreword by Julio Berdegué, FAO Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, and by Renata Clarke, FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for the Caribbean (SLC). The link for the webinar can be found on the Facebook page of the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Speakers during the webinar will be: Máximo Torero Cullen – Chief Economist and Assistant Director General of FAO, Economic and Social Department (ES-FAO), “Coronavirus: The Food Supply Chain Under Pressure What Can We Do?;”
Saboto Caesar – Minister of Agriculture, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Chair of CARICOM Agriculture Sector COVID-19 Response Task Force, “CARICOM COVID-19 Food and Security Action Plan Coordination and Implementation;”
Joseph Cox – CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration Blueprint for Transitioning to Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery; Patrick Antoine – Caribbean Private Sector Organization Representative, “Private Sector Leading Growth in the Region in a post COVID-19 world;”
Selected experts will pose questions following the presentations: Michael Clifton Pintard, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, the Bahamas; Jeremy Stephen, Economist; Lystra Fletcher-Paul, FAO Former Sub-regional Coordinator SRC-SLC.
The webinar initiative is part of the agreement made between 11 international organizations present in the region to coordinate their actions and provide technical support to governments in order to keep agri-food trade alive, expand social protection systems, reach common sanitary and phytosanitary standards, and increase intraregional trade.
St. Maarten COCI became an official member of the CARICHAM Network in February 2020.
CARICHAM was officially launched on April 1, 2019 to promote cooperation and collaboration between its 19-members within the Caribbean Basin. The grouping also seeks to improve the levels of trade and investment within the region and between the region and other trading partners.
CARICHAM would represent the interest of the private sector on regional and international issues; facilitate capacity building opportunities for members and representatives of the Chambers of Commerce; identify and undertake training, and facilitate other cooperation programs that will benefit the membership of the Chambers, as well as the next generation of Caribbean business leaders; foster innovation and strategic collaboration among members to increase global competitiveness of industries; develop and share business-to-business market intelligence; share experiences and best practice in areas such as trade and investment, renewable energy/energy efficiency, disaster risk reduction and climate change; and finally add value as well as identify opportunities for the members of the respective Chambers.
The members of CARICHAM are Chambers of Commerce & Industry from the following countries: Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Guadeloupe and St. Maarten.
