CRFM Secretariat

‘Sowing Change, Harvesting Resilience: Transforming Our Caribbean Food Systems for 2025 and Beyond’

Hon. Samal Duggins, host Minister for CWA 2025 and the upcoming 16th Special Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council, addressing the audience at the opening of CWA 2025 in Saint Kitts and Nevis (Photo: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, Saint Kitts and Nevis)

Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 29 September 2025 (CRFM)—The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) is convening three hybrid events spotlighting the fisheries and aquaculture sector, this week during the 19th Caribbean Week of Agriculture. The annual event, held under the auspices of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, opened at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on Monday, 29 September 2025.

Host Minister for the weeklong event, Honourable Samal Duggins, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Marine Resources, said in his remarks: “Our region has not always given agriculture the priority it deserves. Too often, it has been seen as a sector of last resort, rather than being recognized as a pillar of sovereignty and a pillar of growth. For too long, our farmers and our fishers—the true heroes of food security—have carried the heaviest of these burdens with too little recognition and too little support.”

He added that, “This week must be remembered as the moment when we moved from words to deeds, the moment we moved from intentions into deliberate actions… Let us leave with commitments rooted in the soil, reflected in our oceans, and lived in the homes of our people.

Chair of the CRFM Ministerial Council, Honourable Kyle Hodge of Anguilla (right), with Undersecretary in the Ministry of Agriculture & Marine Resources, The Bahamas, Mr. Montez Williams(Photo: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, Saint Kitts and Nevis)