Caricom’s food security agenda boosted with US$1.6M from New Zealand

The goal of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to reduce the Region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025 has received a boost from the Government of New Zealand to the tune of US$1.6 million, targeting women and youth in agriculture.
Caricom Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett and the new Plenipotentiary Representative of New Zealand to Caricom, Linda Charlotte Te Puni signed a Grant Funding Agreement for the project on the margins of the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Caricom Heads of Government.
On Tuesday, Caricom announced that the regional food security project titled “Caricom Boost: Women and Youth in Agriculture” is part of New Zealand’s commitment to further deepen development cooperation with Caricom and seeks to enhance sustainable production, climate change resilience, and profitability of Caricom women and youth farmer groups in 10 Member States.
“It is expected to see the use of protected structures and appropriate cold storage unit technologies in women and youth-led agriculture production. The general aim of the project is to promote climate-smart agriculture through sustainable agriculture production,” the regional bloc outlined.
Expressing gratitude on behalf of Caricom, Secretary General Barnett noted that the project reflected a collaborative approach that would impact positively on the Region’s food security system and benefit the most vulnerable.
New Zealand, according to the new Plenipotentiary Representative, can provide additional support in areas such as food security, renewable energy, transportation and regional connectivity, disaster risk reduction, management of sargassum invasive species, and facilitating closer collaboration between the Community and the Pacific Islands Forum.

Additionally, the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship Programme provides opportunities for related knowledge expansion and skills development for Caribbean nationals.
The grant funding follows a new cooperation agreement between Caricom and New Zealand, signed in June 2023. It also comes in the wake of the recent accreditation of Ambassador Te Puni as the Plenipotentiary Representative of New Zealand to Caricom in early February.
At that time, the Ambassador lauded the “valuable role” Caricom plays in supporting regional economic development and signalled her country’s “long-term” commitment to the Community.
At the 32nd Inter-Sessional Conference of the Caricom Heads of Government in 2021, a special ministerial task force was established and tasked with guiding the transformation of the regional agri-food system towards full commercialisation. A prime focus was to address the rising food import bill and to stimulate investment in agriculture and food production.
Guyana is presently the lead in agriculture and food security in the Caricom bloc. This is reflected in its transformative projects in priority commodities such as corn and soya bean – which will become one of the largest agricultural investments in the Region by 2026 with US$40 million invested.
Wheat production trials have commenced, along with the resuscitation of the cocoa and coffee industries. Guyana is also making strides in brackish water shrimp production, black belly sheep rearing, new rice varieties, and a new broiler facility to hatch eggs, among other successes.
As of 2022, the Region has achieved 57 per cent of the production targets towards reducing the food import bill by 2025. At that time, President Dr Irfaan Ali had asserted that more than 1.4 metric tonnes of commodities must be produced to achieve this target. (G12)