CAAES hosts webinar on “School feeding governance, policy and legal frameworks”

Written By CAAES: The Caribbean Agro-Economic Society

A virtual training session on “School feeding governance, policy and legal frameworks” was held on June 6, 2023. The session was jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the school feeding project of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Program, the Mexico-CARICOM-FAO Initiative and the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society (CAAES), in association with the University of the West Indies (UWI).

This was the third Resilient and Sustainable School Feeding Programs training session for the Caribbean region. Two previous training sessions were held in 2022.

This session was held as a webinar as part of the 34th West Indies Agricultural Economics Conference hosted by the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society (CAAES) and co-hosted by The Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI). It was attended by over 60 participants, virtually around the region, and in-person at the Conference in Nassau, The Bahamas. The session was moderated by Dr. Carlisle Pemberton, President of CAAES.

On behalf of CAAES/UWI welcoming remarks were made by Dr. Sharon Hutchinson, Head, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, UWI, St. Augustine. In addition, welcoming remarks were made by representatives from FAO-SLC, Mexico Cooperation and Brazil Cooperation.

In terms of regulatory frameworks, the FAO Legal Officer, Manuela Cuvi highlighted the need for a legal structure including legislation for the sustainability of the school feeding programmes. Additionally, the Regional Project Coordinator-School feeding, Najla Veloso, provided recommendations for the regulatory frameworks for the Caribbean school feeding programmes based on the experiences of Brazil.

As part of a panel on experiences in governance, policy, and legal framework in Brazil, Mexico, and the Caribbean, Dr. Afiya De Sormeaux of CAAES delivered a presentation titled “Assisting Countries to Strengthen and Develop School Feeding Policies: Experiences from the Caribbean”. This presentation focused on the methodology for formulating policy frameworks for school feeding programmes developed by CAAES as part of a project in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.

Excerpt from the presentation titled “Assisting Countries to Strengthen and Develop School Feeding Policies: Experiences from the Caribbean”.

Dr. Carel Ligeon of CAAES moderated the open discussion where participants shared their views and experiences with school feeding in the Caribbean. Finally, several closing remarks were made including one by Dr. Hazel Patterson-Andrews, Secretary of CAAES.

Overall, the webinar was a success and provided Caribbean practitioners with additional insights into school feeding governance and policy as well as an opportunity to share knowledge and good practice in school feeding.

CAAES: The Caribbean Agro-Economic Society