Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to Strengthen Animal Disease Surveillance Through Digital Technology

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, opened a training-of-trainers workshop to strengthen timely and effective animal disease surveillance and reporting. Held from 8 to 11 September 2026, the workshop forms part of FAO Technical Cooperation Programme TCP.TRI.4101, through which the EMA-i+ system is being configured and established in the country. The smartphone application enables field personnel to submit real-time, georeferenced reports of disease events affecting domestic and wild animals. The information is transmitted to the national EMPRES-i+ platform, where it is available to authorised government personnel for monitoring, visualisation and epidemiological analysis. Approximately 30 officials are being trained, including 28 Ministry officers and two officers from the veterinary services of the Tobago House of Assembly, who will subsequently train other users. The intervention is intended to support earlier disease detection, faster response and better-informed decisions to protect farmers, food security and the national agricultural sector.