The 19th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) was hosted in St Kitts and Nevis from September 29th to October 3, 2025 with Jamaica set to host the next iteration.
In his address at the CWA, Agriculture Minister of St Kitts and Nevis Samal Duggins opened on September 29 stressing the need for greater cooperation in the south to advance agriculture.
“Agriculture today demands regional solidarity and global partnerships, especially south-south cooperation. This is why St Kitts and Nevis has been deepening our ties with our brothers and sisters in Africa. More recently we have been establishing strong ties with Nigeria. Our partnership, though, is more than bilateral. It is a demonstration of what south-south collaboration means when you put it into practice. It reflects the understanding that our challenges are shared, and so too, must be our solutions.”
He went on, “Together we can exchange knowledge on climate-smart farming. Together we can mobilise investment across various areas of agro-processing. Together we can build new value chains that stretch across the Atlantic. Together, we can forge a bridge between Africa and the Caribbean, widening opportunities for trade, technology transfer, and widening opportunities for cultural exchanges. This is the spirit of south-south cooperation.”
At the close of the event, Indar Weir, Barbados’ Agriculture Minister and Chair of the 121st Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Agriculture announced the decision that Jamaica will host the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) in 2026.
CWA is the Caribbean’s top agricultural event. It rotates among CARICOM member states and includes exhibitions, seminars, and ministerial meetings.
The event gives leaders, farmers, and private sector actors a chance to work together on strengthening agriculture and rural communities across the Caribbean.
To date, there have been 18 successful editions of the CWA. The first was held in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999 and was created by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to highlight the importance of agriculture and rural life in the region. Since then, it has grown with support from CARICOM, FAO, CARDI, and other agencies. Last year, St Vincent and the Grenadines hosted the event.
