In three months, COLEAD's support for food safety in the Caribbean has mobilised hundreds of professionals from more than 40 countries — an engagement presented in early June at the third annual meeting of the Caribbean Task Force on Food Safety, and one that reflects both strong demand and a now well-established collaboration with CAHFSA (the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency).
Delivered in partnership with CAHFSA, this series of thematic webinars addressed issues at the heart of market access for the region's agrifood sectors: good hygiene practices and hazard control, traceability, antimicrobial resistance and phytosanitary legislation. Each session combined technical capacity building with open-access learning resources that can be used well beyond the event itself.
Demand reaching beyond the region's borders
The scale of participation illustrates the interest generated. The refresher session on good hygiene practices (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) attracted 272 registrations from 43 countries, while the session on traceability, aligned with the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), drew 317 registrations from 38 countries. The awareness-raising session on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a growing food safety concern, brought together 140 participants from 32 countries. Within the region, interest was particularly strong in Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Jamaica, Grenada, Belize, Saint Lucia and Dominica, among others.
The webinar dedicated to the phytosanitary legislation training kit, organised jointly by COLEAD and FAO in collaboration with CAHFSA, is a good illustration of this momentum. Rescheduled for April 2026 at a time suited to Caribbean time zones — after an initial launch in November 2025 that was not easily accessible to the region — it was aimed primarily at the Caribbean but open to participants worldwide. The result: a diverse audience in which Zimbabwe and Jamaica were among the most represented countries, a sign that this support is finding an echo well beyond the Caribbean region alone.
What's next?
In addition to the live sessions, all of this content remains available through COLEAD's open-access learning resources, allowing new professionals to benefit from it at any time. This collaboration with CAHFSA consolidates COLEAD's role as a long-term partner of Caribbean agrifood value chains, working towards strengthened food safety and improved market access.