IICA reaffirms its support for agriculture in the Caribbean

Trinidad and Tobago. Following discussions with the Ministers of Agriculture of Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Haiti, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) aims to implement new projects that will benefit producers in those countries.

During a visit to the Caribbean Region, the Director General of IICA, Víctor M. Villalobos, met with the three ministers to reaffirm his organization’s commitment to providing technical support for initiatives related to food security, innovation, and agribusiness.

As part of his visit, Villalobos also took part in the regional planning meeting of IICA Representatives in the Caribbean. The activity took place from April 10-12 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

One of the projects that IICA will be supporting is the installation of biodigesters in rural communities in Antigua and Barbuda. In that nation, officials from IICA and the Ministry of Agriculture took part in the opening of the Sea Food Festival, an activity that could serve as the basis for the joint organization of similar fairs by the Institute and other cooperation agencies.

In Antigua, IICA will also be supporting a project for the management of agricultural information by phone, similar to Costa Rica’s AgroEnlace initiative.

After meeting with the IICA Representatives and with the Minister of Agriculture of Trinidad and Tobago, Villalobos traveled to Haiti for talks with the minister in that country and officials of other technical assistance agencies, and to participate in the inauguration of greenhouses for smallholders.

For more information, contact: 
diego.montenegro@iica.int