Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, agrifood systems have been confronted with many challenges. All Caribbean countries have experienced a drastic drop in tourism and its related activities, and the global economic crisis threatens both production chains and food security.
In this difficult context of social distancing and quarantine, technology is playing a strategic role. New domestic networks or unconventional ways to market local or regional products have been reinforced. In many of these initiatives, digital technologies have been incorporated in various ways, especially through the use of smartphones and the Internet.
These new experiences, along with others already running prior to COVID-19, promote a new relation between producers and consumers and farm-to-market linkages which can be key to reduce the impacts of the pandemic.
The 10th FAO regional COVID-19 webinar, “Food Production and Marketing in a Digital Era: Challenges and Opportunities for the Caribbean”, co-organized with the CARICOM Secretariat, will focus on the ways in which technology can boost agrifood systems, and improve production and distribution in Caribbean countries.
The webinar will take place on Thursday, 11 June 2020 – 12:00 PM Barbados time (UTC -4), with opening remarks by Julio Berdegué, Assistant Director-General of FAO and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, and closing comments by Renata Clarke, FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for the Caribbean (SLC).
Speakers:
- Keithleen Caroo, Founder of Helen’s Daughters, St. Lucia
- Danelia Doyle, Project Manager at Farm Credibly, Jamaica
- Keron Bascombe, creator of TECH4Agri, Trinidad and Tobago
- Lorenzo Harewood, Farmfinder Global, Barbados
Authorities and experts will pose questions following the presentations:
· Clarence Rambharat, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Trinidad and Tobago (to be confirmed)
· Jose Apulche, CEO at Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and Immigration, Belize (to be confirmed)
· Sylvester Cadette, Programme Officer for the Caribbean, International Telecommunications Union
· Keith Agoada, Co-founder and CEO at Producers Market
This initiative of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean 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.
FAO together with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) have launched the weekly newsletter Analysis and responses of Latin America and the Caribbean to the effects of COVID-19 on food systems, and have a web portal updated with the most relevant information worldwide on the pandemic.
Access the conference by clicking here.
