By Sheena Forde-Craigg
BARBADOS / VENEZUELA – Delegations from the ministry of energy and business, as well as the ministry of agriculture, food and nutritional security, recently met with their counterparts in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss cooperation in the areas of energy, including renewable energy, and on matters relating to food security and food sovereignty.
The delegations were led by minister of energy and business, senator Lisa Cummins, and minister of agriculture, food and nutritional security, Indar Weir, and included officials from the respective ministries.
Over the three-day period, from Sunday, June 18, to Wednesday, June 21, they met with the minister of petroleum, Pedro Rafael Tellechea, and a team from Petroleos de Venezuela, and the minister of productive agriculture and lands, Wilmar Castro Soteldo, and his team.
During the discussions, they identified areas for possible cooperation with the aim of establishing mutually beneficial agreements.
Those areas included technical support for papaya varieties to combat bunchy top disease; technical support to combat citrus greening disease; the establishment of a goats project at Greenland for the production of goat’s milk for cheese and yogurt; a labour exchange; and shared knowledge in building capacity for food production through sustainable farming facilities using aquaponics.
The delegation agreed to a visit from Venezuela to share information on areas of collaboration and to agree on a start date, as well as to establish a Venezuela/Barbados agriculture steering committee.
