Frederick Lloyd Cozier etched his name in the history of the Caribbean Community as the first Head of a Caribbean Regional Secretariat.

The Barbadian native in 1968 became Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Caribbean Regional Secretariat (CCRS) with a mandate to create an institution that would give effect to the provisions of the Dickenson Bay Agreement establishing the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) – precursor to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).  The Committee of Trade Ministers who made the selection could not have made a better choice.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Good Evening. I wish first of all, to congratulate and thank the Government of Suriname for being such excellent hosts and for the hard work and commitment which have gone into the planning and preparation for this event. 

This year, we focus on the theme of Family Agriculture for CWA 2014 - a theme that is timely and highly relevant to the development of agriculture here in the Caribbean Region.

One may well ask “What is it about agriculture that lends itself to family- managed production?”

Mr Chairman, Djoemadi Kasanmoesdiran
Your Excellency,  Desiree Delano Bouterse, President of Suriname
Your Excellency,  Hon. Soeresh Algoe, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Suriname
Her Excellency Manorma Soeknandan, Deputy Secretary General, CARICOM Secretariat
Mr Michael Hailu, Director, CTA
Dr Deep Ford, Sub Regional Representative, FAO
Dr Victor Villalobos, Director General, IICA
Hon. Ministers responsible for Agriculture in the Caribbean

The time has come again when the Region’s agricultural sector holds its premier annual event. This is the thirteenth Caribbean Week of Agriculture to have been held since it commenced in 1999 and every year the event has brought together participants in the agricultural sector in a number of fields ranging from producers themselves to scientific personnel to those with political responsibility.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The need for robust information and evidence-based policies to combat climate change was underscored during the week as participants at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) focused their attention on the effects climate change was having on livestock and marine resources.