PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, on Friday welcomed efforts by regional countries to remove impediments which have retarded the growth of the regional agricultural sector.

Addressing the opening of the second Regional Agri- Investment Forum and Expo, Barnett said the event will build on the recent Forum held in Guyana in May, and facilitate targeted discussions on the strategic direction that the region is taking towards safeguarding the food and nutrition security of its people.

“This is even more critical as we in Caricom are faced with the increasing risk of food insecurity. This forum is one of the several regional responses to this grim reality,” she told the opening ceremony, adding that food and nutrition security, as a multi-dimensional issue has implications for a number of economic and social areas, including tourism, manufacturing, healthcare costs, education, culture and security.

Barnett said that as part of a high-level response, Caricom through Guyana’s President Dr Irfaan Ali and the Special Ministerial Taskforce on Food Production and Food Security (MTF), has placed agriculture at the forefront of production-related policies, programmes and projects for the region.

The Caricom Secretary General said that the results of the April 2022 CARICOM/World Food Programme livelihoods survey were quite discouraging.

“It concluded that the incidence of food insecurity is rising and is having a devastating effect on the people of the region,” she said, noting that the key messages, as daunting as they are, include food insecurity has further increased; food prices are increasing; and people are adopting negative coping strategies to make ends meet.

“To address these concerns, we have moved the talk to action. The plans and targets which we have set out for ourselves are coming together. We set out to tackle several obstacles that have been standing in our way for too long.”

She said as a result, the region has reported advances in the approval of four “game-changing” policy actions and strategies, namely, the Caricom Trade Policy for Animals and Animal Products which will create a harmonized procedure for all member states within the region, the Regional Agricultural Heath and Food Safety Policy; the Alternate Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Dispute Resolution Mechanism; and 19 Special Guidelines for the Trade in Animal and Plant Commodities.

She said also the region has strengthened partnerships with and among various stakeholders, including the CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and several financial institutions.

“We moved closer to the free movement of agricultural workers to support this agricultural transformation when the Heads of Government agreed to a definition of agricultural workers at the July Meeting of the Conference,” she said, adding that “our work, through the Ministerial Task force and in collaboration with the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation, has led to agreement on the priority commodities for regional investment and further development”.

Barnett said that the Caribbean’s regional and international development partners, including the FAO and IIICA have offered solid support for our 25 per cent by 2025 regional food bill reduction programme.

She said the recent Summit of the Americas held in the United States has led to the establishment of a Committee of Caribbean and United States high-level representatives to consider mechanisms to support the strengthening of food security in the region.