COLEAD at Agroalimentaria 2025: Promoting structural actions in the Caribbean Region for a sustainable agri-food sector

From 28 to 31 May 2025, COLEAD has participated in the Feria Agroalimentaria in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s flagship agri-food event. Organised by public and private institutions every two years, the event brings together over a hundred exhibitors and thousands of visitors, providing an essential platform for promotion, dialogue and cooperation.

COLEAD had an institutional stand to inform participants about its activities and partnerships in the country. The aim of this presence is to raise the organisation’s profile and facilitate deeper exchanges with public and private sector stakeholders. Several events marked COLEAD’s participation, including two presentations at the technical conference organised during the fair.

The first, entitled ‘Presentation of the Good Practice Manuals produced for the Sanidad e Innovación Agropecuaria (SIA) project’, highlighted the work carried out under the SIA project. This project is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank and implemented with the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture. The project aims to enhance food security, productivity, and competitiveness within the agri-food sector by reinforcing animal and plant health services, encouraging innovation in animal health, and generating dependable statistical data.

The second presentation, focusing on the AGRINFO programme, is entitled ‘Presentation of tools to stay informed about European Union regulations’. Funded by the EU, this programme provides public authorities and the private sector with a strategic information service to help them anticipate and adapt to European regulatory developments affecting agri-food value chains.

This mission also promoted COLEAD’s other ongoing initiatives in the country, particularly the Fit for Market Plus (FFM+) programme. This programme supports the resilience and sustainability of the ACP horticultural sector in the face of the impacts of the pandemic and climate change.

COLEAD’s participation in the Feria Agroalimentaria, which fully embraces international cooperation and sustainable development, demonstrates its commitment to working alongside Dominican stakeholders to strengthen a safer, more competitive and more resilient agri-food sector. Furthermore, by meeting with multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and European and Japanese cooperation agencies, COLEAD is opening up the results of its work in the country and the region — particularly through the SIA project — to synergies aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Caribbean.

The Fit For Market Plus programme, implemented by COLEAD within the framework of Development cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and the European Union (EU). The AGRINFO programme, implemented by COLEAD and funded the European Union (EU). This activity is supported by the SIA project (Sanidad e Innovación Agropecuaria), implemented by COLEAD on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic and financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under loan no. BID-4909/OC-DR. This publication receives financial support from the European Union and the OACPS
The contents are the sole responsibility of COLEAD and in no way reflect the views of the Dominican Ministry of Agriculture, the IDB, the European Union or the OACPS.