Guyana chairs CARICOM meeting in order to discuss food production and food security

Apr 09, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Guyana has taken the lead in agriculture in CARICOM and as of such, a special Ministerial Task Force on food production and food security has been established to advance CARICOM’s agri-food systems agenda.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali had put forward the food production and food security agenda during the 32nd CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting last February. CARICOM subsequently endorsed the agenda and agreed to the establishment of the task force to implement the strategy.

Minister Mustapha addressing the meeting along with some of the CARICOM representatives.

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, who is also the chairman of the special Ministerial Task Force, hosted the inaugural meeting with Ministers of Agriculture from the ten participating CARICOM member states.
The Agricultural Minister stated that the objective of the task force is to guide the regional position towards the transformation of the agri-food system allowing for a significantly more resilient, wealth-generating and food secure Region.
“Food system transformation is at the core of our aspirations and mandate. Therefore, our activities over the next years would be geared towards this goal. Specifically, the CARICOM agri-Food System Strategy seeks to address frontally, the complete removal of all technical barriers to trade, development of a CARICOM Cross Border agri-Food Investment Strategy to support production corridors, accelerating the pace of finalizing and adopting of the CARICOM Investment Code, completion of the reform of the CET suspension and rule of origin regimes to afford protection to regional enterprises and to support the competitiveness of regional forms; implementation of E-Agriculture Strategy; development of measures to promote de-risking of the sector; improvement of transport and logistics; and investment in production, research and development,” said Minister Mustapha.
Minister Mustapha also mentioned that in order to achieve such feats, an implementation of 36 broad policy areas has been articulated and priority sectors such as poultry, corn/soya bean, rice, beef, pork, mutton, coconut, niche vegetables, fruits, and fruit juices, ginger and turmeric have been identified for the advancement of commercialization agenda of the regional food system.
The Ministerial Task Force comprises Agriculture Ministers and other officials from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bahamas, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Task Force also reviewed, amended, and accepted the Terms of Reference (TOR), which were developed by a team of technical officers from the CARICOM Secretariat, which outlines the objectives, purpose, membership, and governance of the Task Force.
Shaun Baugh, CARICOM’S programme manager of agricultural and agro-industrial development discussed the implementation plan for the strategy. He stated that the objective of the plan was the commercialisation of the regional agri-food industry, with actual commencement of private sector production activities in priority sectors identified, within a three-year window.
According to the Press Release, he also discussed several broad policy measures and reforms required to support the commercialisation of the region’s agri-food system. In the short term and medium term, trade barriers were identified as a major constraint that will be addressed.
The need for the development of an e-agriculture strategy as well as investments in production, research and development was classified as long-term areas that need to be addressed. The Task Force will also be working to engage the regional private sector, foreign investors, international and regional institutional partners, and the diplomatic community with a view towards formulating effective partnerships to take the work forward.
At the meeting’s conclusion, Minister Mustapha tasked the Heads of Government to discuss the TOR and implementation plan with their fellow Cabinet members ahead of the next Ministerial Task Force meeting, which is scheduled to take place once monthly ahead of the next CARICOM Heads of Government Conference.