 
This year marks the 70th anniversary of The UWI and our service and leadership in the Caribbean. Along with our network of more than 120,000 alumni, we are proud of the fact that our graduates are represented at the highest levels of the public and private sectors, and among all the professions.
From one century to the next, The UWI has remained committed to advancing learning, creating knowledge, and fostering innovation for a sustainable Caribbean. It is for this reason that techAGRI 2018 is such a major 70th anniversary event.
In March last year, we recorded 8,000 visitors to techAGRI – almost 3,000 were students and teachers.
Dean of the host Faculty, Dr. Wayne Ganpat, has often declared that his intention in staging this techAGRI is to raise the profile of agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago and in the region and to re-establish the reputation of the Faculty of Food and Agriculture as the leader in agricultural education and research in our region.
Ask anyone who attended last year – it was a memorable experience and demonstrated quite comprehensively that the future of agriculture lies in the latest innovations of our young agri-entrepreneurs. This year was no different, as crowds thronged our West Field to take part in the many interactive displays on show.
 As I visited techAGRI again on the second day, I was keenly reminded of the Kenyan proverb “Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It is loaned to you by your children.” This proverb is sometimes used to explain the concept of sustainable development – development not simply for this generation but for future generations also.
I was heartened by the number of “young” persons I saw actively participating in the Expo. I am told there were approximately 4,000 students from various primary and secondary schools who visited and, from the looks on their faces, enjoyed the Expo. As Campus Principal I was even more pleased to see the young members of staff and students, bedecked in their FFA techAGRI tee-shirts. Agriculture and food security are national, regional and global priorities and not only for economic reasons. Indeed, agriculture is a development priority as evidenced by the pivotal role it plays in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It could be seen as the common thread holding the 17 SDGs together.
Returns from timely investments in the agriculture sector will yield benefits to our country for generations to come.
Here in Trinidad and Tobago, we have grown accustomed to a wide variety of food and drink, brought here from all parts of the globe for our enjoyment. Along with this easy access has been an unnerving increase in obesity and chronic lifestyle diseases.
Now that access to foreign exchange is proving a daily challenge to business and individuals alike, it is time to resurrect the old refrain – ‘buy local’ and turn our much touted creativity into profitable endeavours.
Out of evil can indeed come good. For farmers, entrepreneurs, and financiers alike, there is opportunity to be had in the current scenario. We just have to ‘go brave’ as they say, seize the moment, and take that leap of faith in ourselves and our abilities.
Our Faculty of Food and Agriculture produces graduates who continuously innovate and expand the agricultural industry. These research outputs often go begging for investment to allow for commercialisation. The failing is in ourselves that those who can help are often locked into a bureaucratic treadmill that blocks visionary thinking. Some manage to overcome these stumbling blocks and return to techAgri to proudly take their place as Agro-preneurs – those who blend agriculture with innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Expo featured a tremendous variety of local agri-based products. Dean Ganpat’s team organised a mini market and mini workshops and guided visitors to our Cocoa Research Centre and the National Herbarium located on our St. Augustine Campus.
It was a fine meeting place, and now that The UWI has created the platform and provided the opportunity, I urge everyone, whether you are an investor, a Government body, an international agency, an exhibitor, someone involved in agriculture, or simply a member of the public, to see this event as a place to connect to the ideas of self-sufficiency.
TechAGRI was a complete manifestation of our capacity to look after ourselves and future generations – the ultimate measure of sustainable development Agriculture is no longer confined to the realm of farming, and the range of connected industries can provide us with many opportunities to develop thriving spin-off industries.
Our oil legacy lured us into letting these opportunities fall by the wayside, as the special report on Buffalypso in this tenth anniversary issue demonstrates. But it is never too late to change course, and as we know, adversity breeds innovation.
Our economic circumstance can be seen as an opportunity to spread out and secure our future prudently and creatively.
Professor Brian Copeland
Campus Principal
EDITORIAL TEAM
Campus Principal: Professor Brian Copeland
Director of Marketing and Communications: Dr. Dawn-Marie De
Four-Gill
Editor: Vaneisa Baksh (Email: vaneisa.baksh@sta.uwi.edu )
Contact us:
The UWI Marketing and Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002 exts. 82013, 83997
Email: uwitoday@sta.uwi.edu
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