As I look out the window into the night sky, an hour into the beginning of my second leg to Barbados, it is difficult to tell what I am more excited about… Getting to Barbados? Being an onsite social media reporter with a great team once again? Or having to travel a long haul flight for the first time alone?
I will be honest, I know little about the Caribbean region. I never even expected this experience, so it’s hard to say what exactly I am to expect from the Caribbean-Pacific Agri-Food Forum (CPAF15), but I know for one that I want to see where the Caribbean stands and where the Pacific is, compared to them.
Personally, I never really had an interest in the agricultural sector. That is because I always perceived agriculture to be nothing more than just gardening on a bigger scale and getting your hands dirty. It was not until the Pacific Community Agritourism week held in Nadi Fiji, earlier this year that this ideology changed.
From the forum
At the Pacific community Agritourism week, I heard quite a lot about the Caribbean and it will be interesting to see if these were just rhetorical or practical.
If you remember Oliveira Gómez the Deputy Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) from the Pacific Agritourism week, you would also remember how I mentioned his ambitious words about the Caribbean and how the Pacific was falling short, it will be interesting to see if his words were true or just a fantasy.
As a reader you might as well familiarise yourself to him as there will be several references to him and his words in Nadi.
As an onsite social media reporter
Apart from the learning, this will be my second experience at social media reporting and this time I have new tricks up my sleeve that I have learnt from my tutors back at my university. Just like myself, I am certain this time around, the other social reporters also will be just as geared with new tips and tricks as I am.
Come first semester 2016 we will be learning about blogging, and this prior experience is definitely going to help me be well hopefully the best, and who knows if chosen again next year you may see better blog posts from me.
For now, I am looking forward to crossing the international dateline to see you all on the other side, as I end my first piece with a sip of coffee, before I retire into slumber thanks CTA for the opportunity.
Photo credit: Carole Cholai
Blogpost by Avneel Abhishay, Social Reporter for the Caribbean-Pacific Agri-Food Forum 2015.
