Barbados will host the 47th annual conference of the Caribbean Food Crops Society (CFCS) in July as it joins other countries seeking ideas to better manage their water resources and meet the challenges of food security.
The conference, slated for July 3-9 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, is the main annual conference for agricultural research professionals in the Caribbean and Florida, United States, and will be themed: Assuring Caribbean Food and Nutrition Security In The Context Of Climate Change.
Symposia will be held on agroecological engineering and invasive species.
More than 250 delegates from Barbados, the Caribbean, United States, Europe, and other countries are expected to attend.
CFCS was constituted in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1963 and is an independent organization whose primary purpose is to advance and foster all aspects of Caribbean food production, processing and distribution in order to improve the quality of life of Caribbean people.The conference is rotated around the Caribbean annually, and Barbados has hosted CFCS in 1965, 1973, 1982 and 1995. Notably, the first keynote speaker was then Premier of Barbados Errol Walton Barrow in St Croix, United States Virgin Islands in 1963.
This conference will include field trips to highlight features of Barbadian agriculture, landscape and the tourism product; as well as a cultural presentation and a mini exhibition to showcase agriculture and agroindustry.
“We’re looking forward to this meeting of agriculturalists, scientists, fisherfolk and farmers as they look at ways of managing food and water resources. There will also be strong tourism and cultural elements as well,” said the conference’s co-ordinator, William Gittens, who is also administrative officer in the Ministry of Agriculture.
