CTA. 2005. Better networking for Caribbean farmers and fishers. Spore 116. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

A new force for farmers organisations in the Caribbean has been launched with the birth of the Caribbean Farmers Association and NGO Network (CaFANN). The creation of the network is the result of an initiative that began in 2002, at a workshop sponsored by CTA and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI). CaFANN s launch was finalised at another workshop in October 2004, when delegates from 14 Caribbean countries representing 20 farmers associations and rural development organisations met in Antigua and Barbuda to formulate strategies for networking and collaboration in the region. Producers' groups have made it clear that they want to see a more regional focus for their organisations, a new approach in the Caribbean s agriculture sector and one which marks a new era of civil society participation at a regional level. Interestingly, it was the farmers themselves who took the initiative on this occasion in the past, most of the impetus has come from research organisations. As well as pushing for appropriate policies at national and regional level, CaFANN will be working on capacity building, training and improving production, distribution, marketing and trade for producers. As if on cue, Caribbean fisherfolk were voicing a similar request for more regional representation at a workshop of Caribbean regional fisherfolk organisations, held in Belize in October 2004. The event was organised to generate dialogue and an exchange of ideas among regional fisherfolk and strengthen future networking among national fisherfolk organisations in the region. The workshop, which was attended by fishers from Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, was funded by CTA and executed by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), together with the Fisheries Department, Ministry of Fisheries, Cooperatives, Commerce and Industry, Belize. It is hoped that the event will be the first of a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening regional fisherfolk organisations, as well as developing the links between funding agencies like CTA and regional and national executing and implementing organisations to improve the management of fisheries in the region.