This conference will present specific strategies and responses from government, private sector, academia, and non-government organizations in dealing with food security issues during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Title: Strategies and Responses of the Caribbean to Food Security during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Program

Friday, December 4, 2020, Via Zoom

8:00 am • Introduction to the webinar: Dr. Wilfredo Colón, Chair and CEO, Caribbean Food Crops Society, Professor, Department of Science and Technology, UAGM, Carolina Campus

Welcome remarks: Dr. Felix Huertas González, Chancellor, Universidad Ana G. Méndez (UAGM), Carolina Campus

Government:

8:20 am • Introduction of keynote speaker by Mr. Barton Clarke, Executive Director, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)

• Honorable Sabota Ceasar, Minister of Agriculture of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Chair of the CARICOM Agriculture Food and Nutrition Security Cluster

9:00 am • Introduction of keynote speaker by Dr. Edward Evans, Professor of Food and Resource Economics, Center Director, Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC), University of Florida

• Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, Barbados Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, Former Director General IICA

9:40 am • Introduction of keynote speaker by Mrs. Janina Segura, Executive Director, Centro para el Desarrollo Agropecuario y Forestal (CEDAF)

• Dr. Eladio Arnaud, Executive Director, Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (IDIAF), Dominican Republic

Industry:

10:20 am • Introduction of keynote speaker by Dr. Héctor S. Tavarez, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, College of Agricultural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus

• Mr. Angel Santiago, President and CEO, Caribbean Produce Exchange, Inc. San Juan, Puerto Rico

Academia:

11:00 am • Introduction of keynote speaker by Dr. Harry Ozier-Lafontaine, Research Director, Executive President of the French West Indies and Guiana, Centre of French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE)

• Dr. Julien Mérion, Professor in Political Sciences, University of the French Antilles

Non-government organizations:

11:40 am • Introduction of keynote speaker by Dr. Lydia Ori, Professor, Department of Agricultural Production, Faculty of Technology, Anton de Kom Universiteit van Suriname

• Ms. Mikol Hoffman, Program Director, World Central Kitchen (WCK). WCK’s role in Puerto Rico, Bahamas, United States Virgin Islands, and Guatemala

12:20 am • Closing ceremony, Dr. Wilfredo Colón, Chair and CEO, Caribbean Food Crops Society