Time is ripe to advance agricultural development

The time is ripe for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to advance its agricultural development, feed itself and better withstand future crises through deliberate and multi-faceted approaches.

This was the general theme speakers embraced at the launch of the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo on Friday, 8 April, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown, Guyana. The Forum and Expo will be held 19-21 May 2022, under the theme ‘Investing in Vision 25 by 2025.’

The Government of Guyana and the CARICOM Secretariat are collaborating to hold the major event which is aimed at accelerating the process of identifying alternative financing solutions to achieve the goal of a 25 per cent reduction in the region’s food import bill by 2025.

Four Heads of Government including President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Agriculture, in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, CARICOM Chairman, the Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize, and CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett were among the speakers at the well-attended mid-morning launch.

President Ali said CARICOM’s vision was already touching various parts of the world with some international development partners committing support. The Investment Forum and Expo has already attracted 20 international companies, 33 regional companies, 53 local businesses and committed attendance of at least six Heads of Government, President Ali said at the launch. He said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will also field participants to the event.

“The appetite is there, the time is right—we must now embrace it,” the President said.

He described the Forum as an “event of substance”, pointing out that its goals were multi-faceted and included producing food financing, job creation, research and development.

“We cannot do this without the private sector, we cannot do this without each other, the region must understand that we are all partners in this, we can’t restrict each other, we can’t be barriers to each other. For it to be successful, we have to facilitate each other. We must have a win-win scenario and that is what we want to create,” Dr. Ali said.

Both President Ali and Secretary-General Barnett pointed out that investors were targeting key products such as poultry, corn and soya, fish, sheep and goats, and a range of fruit and vegetable products.

The Secretary-General told launch participants that there was no better time than now to do what needed to be done.

“The time for bold and decisive action is now. This is the clearest opportunity for the CARICOM Region to seize control and chart its own destiny in food and nutrition security. We must get it right this time if we are to grow our agri-sector and develop our economies. Too often as a Region, we have not been able to take advantage of what is right in front of us and we will do that now,” she said.

Chair of CARICOM, the Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize, said the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo held “special significance” for the Community as it addressed fundamentally, the priority that was attached to ensuring food and nutrition security for CARICOM’s citizens.

He made his remarks in a recording that was broadcast at the launch. He said deliberate and concerted action was necessary to achieve the 25 by 25 goal, and that the global scenario reinforced the need for action. CARICOM governments, he said, were committed to growing the agriculture sector and to building resilience. He stressed that not only was investment necessary but avenues and strategies to get women and youth engaged in the quest.

“CARICOM Heads of Government are cognisant of the inter-dependence of the relationship between the public sector and the private sector, and how, in conjunction, these different parts can work together to achieve an outcome that is beneficial to our most important asset: the people of the Caribbean,” Prime Minister Briceno said.

That inter-dependence was underscored in remarks representatives of the private sector made during the ceremony. Marketing and Communications Manager of Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited, Ms. Michelle Johnson, said the Forum provided a wealth of positive possibilities for everyone and that the Region had to start immediately to achieve the 25 by 25 goal. She said Republic Bank was committed to being part of the solution and to work with governments and the private sector. She said the vision of the Community aligned with those of the Republic Holdings and called for all to remain focused and for institutional hurdles around people and capital movement to be dismantled.

Chairman of the Private Sector Commission of Guyana, Mr. Paul Cheong, also addressed the launch. He said agriculture was a pillar on which a strong, sustainable economy and future could be built and pointed to the opportunities that were available for investment in agriculture. He encouraged full participation in the Investment Forum.

In a pre-recorded message to the launch event St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves, said more than ever, “we have to build agriculture and feed ourselves in this region.”

Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Mia Mottley, who joined the launch virtually from Bridgetown, said “we have a solemn obligation to feed our people.”

“…when the Heads of Government of CARICOM met on chronic NCDS in the Region, we recognised that this was one of the gravest threats to our economic stability and therefore, we were not only responding to global conditions; we’re responding to what is necessary to keep our bodies healthy and to keep our people healthy and productive,” PM Mottley said.

“This is now our mission,” she said, as she pointed to the various global challenges including the pandemic, supply chain disruptions and the threat to food security.

Source: CARICOM TODAY