(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A review of the Agriculture Donor Conference held in Trinidad and Tobago in June 2007, is among the key agenda items the Caucus of CARICOM Ministers of Agriculture will consider in Antigua, Guatemala on 24 July 2007.

According to the provisional agenda of the Meting, the Ministers will review the conference and follow-up action plan and will also consider the CARICOM Agriculture Investment Conference which is to be hosted by Jamaica.

The Donor Conference on Agriculture was held on 2 June 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. In keeping with the objectives, significant outcomes of the conference included actual pledges of financial support to the tune of US$10.0M from some members, such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the Governments of Spain and Italy, and their commitment to the strategic approach to be taken in pursuing the transformation of the Region’s agricultural sector.

Participants at the Donor Conference have also reported a heightened sense of ownership amongst Regional partners of the process which can only augur well for increased collaboration and co-ordination in implementing the Agriculture strategy.

The Investment Forum, a spin-off of the Donor Conference, will bring together all the sector’s stakeholders with the aim of indicating the levels of financial contribution and the specific sector or cluster of issues and projects to which in principle, governments, donors and investors will commit resources.

Also on the meeting’s agenda is a report on activities to mark CARICOM Agriculture Week. The forum will also consider relations between CARICOM and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).