Many CARICOM countries have not implemented programmes in the regional agricultural strategy, the Jagdeo Initiative, and with rising prices for food globally they will face a problem with food prices and inflation, President Bharrat Jagdeo has said.
Reuters reported on January 6 that record high food prices are moving to the top of policymaker agendas, driven by fears it could stoke inflation, protectionism and unrest and dent consumer demand in key emerging economies.
According to the report, analysts say African and Caribbean economies dependent on food exports could be particularly hard hit, helping to prime unrest and potentially pushing governments towards imposing export bans and expropriating foreign-owned farmland. CARICOM’s annual food import bill is over US$4B.
Meeting reporters at the Office of the President on Monday, Jagdeo said that the rising food prices are going to have a major impact across the Caribbean.
He noted that he has always argued that more attention should be paid to agriculture.
He recalled that after the last global food crisis in 2008, there was a “huge spurt in activity” in the region but then somehow the commitment and enthusiasm across the region waned when prices fell.
Those countries, Jagdeo said, are going to face a problem with food and prices and inflation.
Guyana’s production is increasing, he noted.
Referring to the Jagdeo Initiative, he explained that while there can be a regional initiative, it requires national application, national policy and allocations in budgets. Some countries, he observed, allocate very little. “They don’t have incentives for agriculture but they have incentives for tourism and other things,” he pointed out, adding, “Unfortunately this is the situation we find ourselves in.”
Guyana is trying to cushion the impact of the rise in prices but there are also opportunities for farmers, he added.
