By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian Cabinet minister will next Monday participate in a panel discussion on building more resilient food systems in the Caribbean.

Michael Pintard, minister of agriculture and marine resources, will join other panellists for a virtual talk hosted by the non-profit group, World Central Kitchen. Other parrticipants include Positive Nelson, the US Virgin Islands’ commissioner of agriculture, and Ramón “Pirul’’ González, secretary of agriculture in Puerto Rico.

It will be moderated by Uriyoán Colón-Ramos, associate professor at George Washington University.

The panelists will discuss how regional governments and organisations can work together to respond to a crisis and to facilitate the recovery process.

The dialogue will be hosted online in English with simultaneous translation in Spanish.

Through its Food Producer Network, World Central Kitchen partners with and supports smallholder farmers, fishermen and small food-related businesses that produce or distribute food by providing funding, training and networking.

The Food Producer Network was established in Puerto Rico in 2018 in response to the 2017 hurricanes that devastated the island, and has since awarded over $3.4m in grants to food producers affected by natural disasters in the Caribbean and Latin America. In 2020, the programme expanded its efforts in the USVI, The Bahamas and Guatemala, and works to support food security throughout the region.

“For the last four years we have been supporting food producers across the region and have connected with each of the panellists in unique ways. In our conversations, we learned there is a great opportunity to learn and co-operate amongst the Caribbean islands,” said Mikol Hoffman, director of World Central Kitchen’s Food Producer Network.

“Community is at the heart of everything we do, and we wanted to convene some of our incredible partners to exchange ideas and create a space for collaboration.” To register for Creating Resilient Food Systems in the Caribbean, use: http://wck.org/resilience-panel. This event is open to the public and will include an opportunity to ask questions.