Caricom to invest in projects for sustainable agri products – SG

As the region recovers from the destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) is preparing to invest heavily in sustainable agricultural product projects aimed at modernising farming to improve market access for existing and new agriculture products.
This was echoed by the Secretary General of Caricom, Dr. Carla Barnett who disclosed that plans are being formulated for this initiative while adding that the process includes evaluating existing as well as new policies to develop agriculture sectors across the Caribbean.
Notably, Caricom has made significant strides in advancing policy development and implementation in attracting investment, which resulted in several member states producing new crops and fostering functional partnerships with the private sector, farmers, and civil society.
On this point, Dr. Barnett explained that the new path being taken by the Caribbean will rely on all the expertise garnered prior to Hurricane Beryl and significant private sector investment.
“Caricom is again at an inflection point where scarce capital has to be diverted from economic development to support recovery and rebuilding from the effects of extreme weather events fueled by global warming, that is at the core of climate change… Private sector investment in sustainable agriculture is now crucial to bolster advantages and address challenges especially since Beryl has now caused significant setbacks” Dr. Barnett said.
“Importantly, we are prioritising investments that are climate resilient. Those investments which integrate improved funding techniques to address the region’s vulnerability to hurricanes, floods, droughts and rising sea levels that cause stagnation and loss of arable lands” she added.
The Caricom Secretary-General said financing through public-private partnerships is actively being pursued for crucial aspects of the initiative. She explained that the financing gap identified amounts to US$1.2 billion.
“Work is underway to find dedicated capital funds for investment opportunities in transportation and logistics, digitisation and research into best practices to develop the sector based on the available science. With the support of the Caricom private sector organisation, we have pinpointed possible investment opportunities amounting to US $1.2 billion covering six potential agri- food value chain opportunities. These are to produce cereals and staples, beverages, fresh cereals, salted fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts, poultry and other meats and milk and cream,” the Secretary-General said.
It was noted that after partnerships with private sector investment in these other areas are secured – new industries and support food and nutrition security for current and future generations will emerge.
Guyana is currently chairing the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Ministerial Task Force on Food Production and Food Security, which has been driving the ‘25 by 2025’ initiative seeking to boost food production within the region to reduce food imports.
Less than a week ago, President Dr. Irfaan Ali disclosed plans to utilise climate-smart agriculture to increase yield in crop cultivation, as the primary method to safeguard against the destruction that can be caused by climate change, especially devasting events such as Hurricane Beryl, which has wreaked havoc in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Hurricane Beryl first made landfall on July 1 in Carriacou, an island in Grenada. Beryl reached a Category 5 hurricane status in the Atlantic on Monday, with peak winds of 165 mph (270 kph). In addition to Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Beryl wreaked havoc in Barbados, St. Lucia, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago – countries with large Guyanese diasporas.
Over 38000 Guyanese residing in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Barbados and Trinidad were reportedly affected by the devasting Hurricane Beryl, which continues to plough through the Caribbean with record-breaking wind speeds, causing massive destruction including loss of lives.
Beryl has killed at least ten people and disrupted economies on the various small islands, from tourism to agriculture… in particular the 25 by 2025 goals that were first championed by Guyana and President Ali, before and during his Chairmanship of Caricom in the first part of the year. (G1)