By Pushpa Balgobin
in Paramaribo, Suriname
The region’s agricultural entities need to find ways of complementing each other instead of competing with each other, which ultimately results in a contest for funding, according to Caricom’s Deputy General Secretary Manorma Soeknandan.
Amidst heavy criticisms from various stakeholders at the Meeting of the Alliance for Sustainable Development of Agricul-ture and the Rural Milieu on Wednesday in Suriname, Soeknandan said that a “real focused approach within the context of limited financial and human resources” was necessary and would allow for benchmarking of achievements.
She was at the time responding to criticism by Dominica’s Minister of Agriculture Matthew Walter, at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) being held in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Walter had expressed his disappointment over what transpired during last year’s CWA, held in Guyana, where there was no feedback as to whether or not recommendations had been implemented.
He noted that at the end of every CWA a report was needed that would articulate all of the policy recommendations