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Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis – 2 October, 2025 – During the Caribbean Week of Agriculture held in Saint Kitts from 29 September to 3 October, 2025, regional leaders, international organizations, and financial institutions came together to stress the central role of data in building resilient food systems. The session, “Data-Driven Solutions for Food Security – Building Resilience and Leveraging Trade and Markets to Lower Food Costs for the Vulnerable”, was led jointly by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) and attracted over 40 stakeholders from across the Caribbean.
Presenters and Panelists
The session featured keynote presentations from Ms. Renata Clarke, FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator, and Mr. Brian Bogart, WFP Country Director, with contributions from a distinguished panel including:
The session placed a strong emphasis on turning data into action, highlighting practical ways it can be used to improve food security across the Caribbean. Speakers noted that while tools such as the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) and the Cost of a Healthy Diet (CHD) provide powerful insights, they remain underutilized. These datasets, they argued, can guide more targeted interventions but are not yet fully embedded in national or regional policies.
A recurring theme was the need for greater regional coordination. Harmonized data systems and the establishment of regional hubs were seen as essential steps to make better use of existing datasets, reduce duplication, and ensure consistent application across countries. The session also underscored the importance of evidence-based policymaking. Governments, participants said, must lean more heavily on data when shaping strategies for food production, access, and nutrition, ensuring that interventions are both timely and inclusive.
Minister Roland Royer indicated “Strengthened data collection, including food prices and dietary patterns, has guided policies, with tools like GIS and early warning systems supporting targeted interventions”.
Investments and innovation were also highlighted as priority areas. Improvements in irrigation, logistics, and trade facilitation were deemed critical, alongside the adoption of modern technologies such as GIS mapping, remote sensing, and drones to close data gaps and enhance monitoring. Finally, the discussions pointed to the need for stronger institutional frameworks. Formal data-sharing agreements, the use of uniform indicators, and closer collaboration between ministries and agencies were described as crucial to building resilient food systems that can respond effectively to the region’s challenges.
Dr Renata Clarke stated that “Data is indispensable for informed decision-making, yet sometimes its full potential remains underutilized”.
Call to Action
The panel issued a clear call to action, urging governments and development partners to step up their efforts in tackling food insecurity across the Caribbean. Among the top priorities was the creation of a regional data framework to standardize how information is collected, shared, and analyzed, ensuring that decision-makers work from a common evidence base.
Experts also called for the integration of the FIES and the CHD into national strategies. These tools, they argued, would allow for more timely and inclusive interventions, helping policymakers to better target support to vulnerable populations.
The discussion underscored the urgency of collective action. With the Caribbean facing the highest cost of a healthy diet anywhere in the world, participants agreed that stronger data systems, smarter investments, and closer regional cooperation are essential to driving down food costs and improving nutrition across the region.
Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis – 2 October, 2025 – During the Caribbean Week of Agriculture held in Saint Kitts from 29 September to 3 October, 2025, regional leaders, international organizations, and financial institutions came together to stress the central role of data in building resilient food systems. The session, “Data-Driven Solutions for Food Security – Building Resilience and Leveraging Trade and Markets to Lower Food Costs for the Vulnerable”, was led jointly by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) and attracted over 40 stakeholders from across the Caribbean.
Presenters and Panelists
The session featured keynote presentations from Ms. Renata Clarke, FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator, and Mr. Brian Bogart, WFP Country Director, with contributions from a distinguished panel including:
The session placed a strong emphasis on turning data into action, highlighting practical ways it can be used to improve food security across the Caribbean. Speakers noted that while tools such as the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) and the Cost of a Healthy Diet (CHD) provide powerful insights, they remain underutilized. These datasets, they argued, can guide more targeted interventions but are not yet fully embedded in national or regional policies.
A recurring theme was the need for greater regional coordination. Harmonized data systems and the establishment of regional hubs were seen as essential steps to make better use of existing datasets, reduce duplication, and ensure consistent application across countries. The session also underscored the importance of evidence-based policymaking. Governments, participants said, must lean more heavily on data when shaping strategies for food production, access, and nutrition, ensuring that interventions are both timely and inclusive.
Minister Roland Royer indicated “Strengthened data collection, including food prices and dietary patterns, has guided policies, with tools like GIS and early warning systems supporting targeted interventions”.
Investments and innovation were also highlighted as priority areas. Improvements in irrigation, logistics, and trade facilitation were deemed critical, alongside the adoption of modern technologies such as GIS mapping, remote sensing, and drones to close data gaps and enhance monitoring. Finally, the discussions pointed to the need for stronger institutional frameworks. Formal data-sharing agreements, the use of uniform indicators, and closer collaboration between ministries and agencies were described as crucial to building resilient food systems that can respond effectively to the region’s challenges.
Dr Renata Clarke stated that “Data is indispensable for informed decision-making, yet sometimes its full potential remains underutilized”.
Call to Action
The panel issued a clear call to action, urging governments and development partners to step up their efforts in tackling food insecurity across the Caribbean. Among the top priorities was the creation of a regional data framework to standardize how information is collected, shared, and analyzed, ensuring that decision-makers work from a common evidence base.
Experts also called for the integration of the FIES and the CHD into national strategies. These tools, they argued, would allow for more timely and inclusive interventions, helping policymakers to better target support to vulnerable populations.
The discussion underscored the urgency of collective action. With the Caribbean facing the highest cost of a healthy diet anywhere in the world, participants agreed that stronger data systems, smarter investments, and closer regional cooperation are essential to driving down food costs and improving nutrition across the region.
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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
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