Caricom remains committed to Guyana’s territorial sovereignty – SG

…President Ali to push sustainable agriculture agenda
at Heads of Govt conference in Belize

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) remains committed to Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the issue will certainly be on the agenda during the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting in Belize, which starts today.
This was revealed during a press conference hosted on Monday by Caricom Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, ahead of the two-day 33rd Inter-Sessional Heads of Government Meeting.

Barnett noted that Caricom has been keeping a close eye on Guyana’s border controversy with Venezuela. This, she noted, has nothing to do with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, since it is usually included as an agenda item regardless.
“There are two border issues that are on the agenda for every Head meeting and one is the Guyana-Venezuela and the other is of course, is the Belize-Guatemala, those are issues that the Heads follow very closely, those are the issues which make the region stand strong on the matter of self-determination and territorial integrity and that will not change and that has nothing to do with the position on Ukraine in terms of any discussion of those issues,” Dr Barnett said.
During the press conference, Barnett also spoke about agriculture and explained that Guyana, represented by President Dr Irfaan Ali, will be expected to provide crucial updates in the area of food security. She underscored the importance of the assurances given by President Ali when it comes to investing in sustainable agriculture.
“In terms of increasing food production, we’re talking about planting. We’re talking about planting more food in an environmentally sustainable way. The Government of Guyana, in particular his Excellency President Ali, is leading the charge there.”
“There are some interesting and important undertakings that he has made in terms of investing in things like protected agriculture, targeting the particular food items we import on a regular basis. And making investments in producing those. So those are the things that we’re going to be expecting him to be reporting on,” the Secretary General explained.

According to information from the Caricom Secretariat, the Opening Session of the Inter-Sessional meeting will feature remarks by the Caricom Secretary General, as well as the outgoing Caricom Chairman, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne; and Caricom Chairman, Prime Minister Johnny Briceño of Belize.
President Ali has, in fact, already left for Belize for the inter-sessional meeting, which is being held in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. During the two-day meeting, he will join other Heads of Government from across the Region in deliberating on several matters.
The topics will include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Region; advancing the Caricom Single Market and Economy to help build a more resilient Community; and advancing the Caricom Agri-Food Systems Agency, with emphasis on regional food and nutrition security.
It is also expected that the leaders will engage the regional private sector, labour and civil society; and discuss climate change action following last year’s COP26 and the security situation in the Region.
Last year, President Ali had declared that his Government would be pursuing an aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultural trade and that in the next four years, with the assistance of more diversified crops, Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent.
It was only last year that harvesting started at a 115-acre soyabean and five-acre corn pilot project in Ebini, Upper Berbice River – a joint venture between various local and foreign investors – aimed at proving all raw materials for the production of livestock and poultry feed for the local sector.
The ranch is being developed by a consortium of investors that include the owners of Guyana Stock Feed Ltd, Royal Chicken, Edun Farms, SBM Wood, Dubulay Ranch, and Bounty Farm Ltd, along with the Brazilian-owned NF Agriculture.
Back in April 2021, Assistant Managing Director of Bounty Farm Limited, David Fernandes had explained the group’s vision for the project. During his presentation, Fernandes said that Guyana has long been touted as having the potential of being the breadbasket of the Caribbean and that in recent years there has been a greater appreciation of the high dependence on imports for livestock feeds.
Guyana also chairs the Caricom Special Ministerial Taskforce on Food Production and Food Security, through Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha. He has said that the Government plans for Guyana to be a net exporter of soyabeans in the next five years.