Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member countries are seeking ways of building on existing initiatives to realise improvement in their food security status even as collectively, they share a food import bill thought to be in the vicinity of around US$5 billion at this time.
Last week the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) unveiled a new project that targets the enhancement of food security and agricultural productivity through improvement in the production, processing, and marketing of sweet potato in the region.
The CDB is backing the initiative with a US$600,000 grant to the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) to finance the research and capacity-building initiative. CARDI itself is providing the counterpart funding for a project, the overall cost of which is estimated at US$810,000.
The project reportedly involves components that include market research, value-chain analysis that seeks to determine levels of consumer demand for sweet potato, potential areas for investment, and arriving at an understanding of the existing gaps in the market.
A regional media report on the project also states that it involves field research designed to identify climate-resilient varieties and genotypes, including strains of sweet potato that are high yielding, drought-tolerant, disease-resistant, and suitable for processing. Information deriving from the research will be made available to farmers and other stakeholders in order to “demonstrate best practices in sweet potato cultivation, processing and value-added product development,” the report says.
Another aspect of the project is the provision of training and making new technology available to farmers, agro-processors, and other stakeholders. “The goal is to help identify emerging or potential opportunities for market development, expansion and enhancement of the regional sweet potato industry. The planned research, particularly the business case development, will serve as a catalyst for more strategic investment in the industry while the technology transfer will accelerate its modernization,” Director of Projects at the CDB, Daniel Best is quoted as saying.
With sweet potato having established itself both as a versatile vegetable and as a favourite in Caribbean culinary culture, the project is expected to attract region-wide interest including here in Guyana where there have been several recent probes by both farmers and market investigators into determining the likely profitability of expanding sweet potato production here. Some sweet potato-based products have already made an appearance in the local agro-processing sector with at least one such product – a sweet potato flour – known to be aiming at a breakthrough on the regional and extra-regional markets.
Best, however, has dropped a broad hint that the focus of the current project is on adding another string to the bow of regional food security. “Increased production of local alternatives to traditional imports and value addition to provide healthy convenient options for consumers, can assist in reversing public health challenges and reduce the regional food import bill. Roots and tubers, particularly sweet potato and cassava, have been identified as areas of focus.” the Director stated.
