Antigua hosts Inter-American Board of Agriculture Meeting for Caribbean agricultural cooperation

St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda: The Antigua Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs has recently shared an update regarding the Inter-American Board of Agriculture. The Ministry also shared the importance of the Board and informed the general public about the aims and objectives under which the Agricultural Board will work.

The Ministry further informed that the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) is the highest governing body of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), consisting of 34 Member States, 14 of which are in the Caribbean Region.

In addition to this, the update by the Ministry stated that on 17 January 2022, the Director General was sworn in for a second and final four-year term, with the unanimous support of the Member States.

The Director General has since secured approval from the IABA (IICA/JIA/Res 533 (XXI-O/21)) for the implementation of the 2022-2026 Medium-Term Plan (MTP). It is important to highlight that the 2022-2026 MTP builds on the achievements of the 2018-2022 MTP.

According to the update, the purpose of this meeting will be to explore cooperation opportunities with ministers of Agriculture from our Member States in the Caribbean Region, listen to the vision and perspectives of ministers for the agriculture sector in their countries and region, as well as determine how the Institute may assist them in achieving their goals for the sector.

The Ministry further informed the general about the participants across the Caribbean region:

1. Antigua and Barbuda: EP Chet Greene
2. Grenada: Adrian Thomas
3. Saint Kitts and Nevis: Samal Mojah Duggins
4. Saint Lucia: Alfred P. Prospere
5. Trinidad and Tobago: Avinash G. Singh and his wife
6. Belize: Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise; and wife and son
7. Dominican Republic: Rafael Ortiz, Deputy Minister
8. Dominican Republic: Former president Hipólito Mejía, accompanied by one other person