Farmers to gain access to expertise, financing opportunities at CWA 2026

Local farmers will have greater access to technical expertise, financing discussions and knowledge-sharing opportunities when the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) gets underway in Jamaica next week. Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister Floyd Green says “ordinary farmers” will be deliberately included in the 20th staging of the regional agricultural forum, which is expected to attract more than 800 delegates from 40 countries. Green said the conference has been structured to ensure that discussions are not limited to government officials, policymakers and private sector stakeholders.

“We do have a number of ordinary farmers attending CWA, because one of the things that we're focused on is our technical sessions. And I've said to our farmers, one of the best things you can get is an expert telling you how to approach a problem from a data-driven basis,” he said. According to the minister, farmers will be able to participate in sessions where regional and international experts will provide data-driven guidance on tackling some of the challenges affecting agricultural production.

(From left) Operations Manager at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Brandon McFarlane; Director General of Jamaica Red Cross (JRC), Yvonne Clarke; JRC President, Allasandra Chung; Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green; and Chief Technical Director Orville Palmer. More than 70 technical sessions are planned across the six-day conference, including discussions on climate-smart agriculture, disaster resilience, agricultural financing, food security and investment. A day will also be dedicated specifically to farmers, while another will focus on youth.

Green said regional delegations have been encouraged to bring farmers to Jamaica alongside technical experts, policymakers and entrepreneurs, creating opportunities for producers to learn directly from their counterparts across the Caribbean. But he said the exchange will not be one-sided. Jamaican farmers will also have an opportunity to showcase techniques and knowledge they have developed in their own communities, particularly in building resilience to difficult farming conditions.

“Oftentimes, our ordinary farmers have built resilience in their own neck of the woods, using their own cultural knowledge, and we don’t take that for granted,” Green said.