PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago – The Caribbean region is currently facing a great challenge as the importation of food supplies continues to rise. As a result, there is a renewed call for countries to design and implement agricultural development policies with the objective of encouraging increased production and consumption of local foods.

Against this backdrop, the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) in collaboration with the Government of Colombia and the CLAYUCA Corporation will be offering an International Course on Modern Technologies for Cassava Production, Processing and Utilization, which will take place in Cali, Colombia, from July 28 to August 2, 2014.

In this context, the course is designed to support the sustainable development of cassava, which is one of the major crops consumed in the region. The training will focus on the need to formulate and implement policies to improve agricultural productivity, increase production and planted areas, develop new food products and introduce advanced technologies for production and processing as well as the formation of new marketing systems.

Representatives from participating countries include Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.