 What’s one of the best ways to ensure food security? Healthy crops. And a new agreement between The UWI and a unit of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is set to intensify the region’s pest-fighting operations.
On March 13, UWI and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) through its International Services (IS) APHIS formalised their long-standing collaboration with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at the University Inn and Conference Centre. Through the agreement, The UWI will provide office space and facilities for APHIS in Trinidad and Tobago.
For several years now, APHIS IS has supported the Caribbean Plant Health Directors’ (CPHD) work in protecting the region’s plant life. It has been working with The UWI since the 2007 establishment of the CPHD Forum. The forum’s goal is to assist the greater Caribbean and regional agricultural institutes, such as APHIS IS, in strengthening their phytosanitary (plant disease fighting) capabilities. This has long been recognised as one of the ways to boost countries’ ability to improve their trade in agricultural commodities.
Using The UWI’s technical expertise in areas such as plant health and the global sanitary and phytosanitary principles, the CPHD Forum has been able to tackle issues related to pest prioritisation and the Giant African Snail in the region.
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