Regional Agricultural Insurance Programme: Agriculture must be on frontline – CARICOM chair

Chair of CARICOM and Prime Minister (PM) of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, positioned agriculture at the “front of the line” of delivering food security and developing a sustainable nation on Tuesday.
He was, at the time, delivering the feature address at the launch of the Regional Economical Agri-Insurance Programme (REAP) in St Kitts and Nevis. There, he emphasised that agriculture should not be seen as a “by the way activity but should be brought into the mainstream” as it is critical to the achievement of food security that is a pillar of building a “sustainable island state”.

Placing the launch in the context of regional cooperation, Dr Drew said, “CARICOM has come through. We just had the 50th Regular Meeting here in St Kitts and Nevis. And for those who doubt whether CARICOM is valuable or not, of course you recognise that this is an initiative that has been led by CARICOM. St Kitts and Nevis alone could not have done this. This is the value of CARICOM.”
The PM placed heavy emphasis on the importance of the farming community and pointed out the risks farmers and fishers face from natural disasters, which can cause widespread devastation.
“Imagine one event can wipe out millions of dollars in investment with no guarantee that you will receive some form of compensation,” he said.
He pointed out that REAP provides a guarantee of derisking to registered farmers and fisherfolk “so that you can have some ease of mind that you can continue to practise your craft and, in the event that a phenomenon were to happen, that you would be protected and get back to activities as quickly as possible.”
The Caricom chair also related that the investment in the insurance product, which will be beneficial primarily to crop and livestock farmers and fishers, is fundamental.
The St Kitts and Nevis launch – the third following launches in Guyana and Saint Lucia – was held as the region advances its 25×25+5 food security initiative, which aims to reduce its food import bill by 25 per cent by 2030.