Webinar on Good Packaging and Processing Practices for Caribbean Value Chains

Live broadcast

Background

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are integral to the value chains in the Caribbean, playing a key role in regional food supply. To enhance the performance of value chains in the Caribbean, there is a pressing need to improve efficiency of various value chain functions, including crop production, supply chain management, food processing, and packaging. Effective packaging is particularly crucial as it helps minimize food loss and waste, while also increasing the marketability of regional agricultural products. This improvement is essential not only to meet the demands of a growing middle-class population and a thriving tourism market but also to benefit from the expanding diaspora and international market opportunities. Strengthening these aspects of the value chain will enable CARICOM MSMEs to compete more effectively and contribute more sustainably to the region’s economic development.

This information sharing session is designed to equip national value chain teams from the FAO Caribbean Value Chain Programme with essential knowledge and practical skills in good packaging practices, aimed at enhancing product quality, ensuring regulatory compliance, and improving market competitiveness. The presentation will draw on content from the recently published document Good packaging practices for micro, small and medium-sized food processing enterprises in the Caribbean Community and Common Market, and will relate relevant guidance to ongoing work in the pepper, dasheen, ginger, lettuce and sweet pepper value chains.