Celebrating CARDI DAY 2017

5 December 2017

For Immediate Release

PRESS RELEASE

Collaboration, Innovation and Implementation

Celebrating CARDI DAY 2017

Agriculture development has been recognised as a vehicle for stimulating growth, trade, and as a contributor to food and nutrition security in the Caribbean. Since opening its office in The Bahamas, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute(CARDI) has embarked on a deliberate strategy for engaging with the private sector, tertiary-level institutions, universities and farmers to foster a diverse range of partnerships.

Under the new Strategic Plan 2018-2022, the Institute will focus on value chain services, institutional strengthening, policy and advocacy,and partnerships and strategic alliances. A differentiated strategy will guide the implementation of activities across the CARDIMember-States. This will enable the Institute to implement activities that better meet the needs of stakeholders in-country through the adoption of an Agricultural Innovation Systems Approach. The improved linkages with stakeholders will promote co-learning and financing, capacity building, and investments in youth, ultimately resulting in the strengthening of the National Innovation System.

Partnerships and Policy and Advocacy are central to the success of the sector, and so CARDI will continue to intensify its efforts to build partnerships that will directly benefit agriculture. Moreover, CARDI will work to ensure the results of our work are used to support policy development in The Bahamas on areas related to food and nutrition security and climate change.

It is very important that agriculture be viewed as a business, developing resilient systems and intellectual property rights in The Bahamas. CARDI will work on improving the agri-tourism sector through ethno-cuisine and gastronomic tourism, leveraging the strength of the tourism sector. Youth involvement, information and communication technologies, investment and political will are all key components of this thrust.

CARDI Day is celebrated in all 16 Member-States on December 5. This special day, highlighted through various activities, emphasizes the integral role of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute regionally and confirms the dedication of the Institute to its charter:

  1. to provide for the research and development needs of the agriculture of the Region as identified in national plans and policies;
  1. to provide an appropriate research and development service to the agricultural sector of Member-States;
  2. to provide and extend the application of new technologies in production, processing, storage and distribution of agricultural products of Member-States;
  3. to pursue, for specified periods, long-term research in pertinent areas; and
  4. to provide for the co-ordination and integration of the research and development efforts of Member-States where this is possible and desirable.