Researcher Dr Ronald Roopnarine Urges Greater Regional Cooperation In Agriculture
Agriculture remains critical to the region’s development, but researcher at The University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Food and Agriculture, Dr Ronald Roopnarine, says more must be done to strengthen the sector and unlock its full potential.
He said transforming the agricultural sector will require greater adoption of climate-smart technologies, a stronger emphasis on food security and increased participation from young people.
« You want to introduce modern technology in agriculture. You want young people to understand that it is not just standing in the hot sun and doing hard work, but there is science behind it, there is technology behind it, and also there are very, very good opportunities on a regional and international level for export expansion that could bring forex to our countries and assist with the development of the sector and countries at large. »
He is urging Caribbean nations to combine their resources to strengthen the regional agricultural sector.
« I also would like to see some regional partnerships where we operate as a team under CARICOM in that sense because our countries are very small, and in order for us to compete at an international level, we really need to work together and understand that strengthens of each individual country and perhaps look at developing the sector from a regional standpoint rather than just a national standpoint. »
Dr Roopnarine said greater regional collaboration could allow Caribbean countries to share successful agricultural initiatives and scale up solutions that have proven effective.
« A lot of this is really geared towards formalising the sector and allowing people regionally to understand this is what is happening in the various countries for us to have a shared part going forward where persons would’ve understand that Jamaica would’ve tried X, Trinidad would’ve tried Z. These things are working in our conditions; perhaps there is the opportunity to adopt and scale up. »
Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) 2026 marks the 20th edition of the region’s premier agricultural event.
Themed “The New F.A.C.E. of Caribbean Food Systems », the event highlights four pillars: food security, agribusiness development, climate-smart technologies and export expansion.
