The Caribbean Export Development Agency (CARIB EXPORT) earlier this week announced that it will be hosting the region’s first ever Agricultural Technology Summit from October 5-7. The summit will enable representatives from the various Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries to probe the role that digital technologies can play in transforming agriculture and food production in the region.
Noting that Guyana “holds lead responsibility for Agriculture, Agricultural Diversification and Food Security for CARICOM,” the Caribbean Export media release says that the keynote address at the forum will be delivered by the country’s president Dr. Irfaan Ali.
The release noted that the forum was being staged against the backdrop of the Caribbean being “one of the most food insecure regions on our planet.” It adds that “COVID-19 has once more shown this acute vulnerability and the imperative of boosting food security,” adding that “given our challenges such as small size, technology is a valuable friend of our agricultural sector.”
In adding context to the forthcoming forum, Caribbean Export Executive Director Deodat Maraj is quoted in the release as saying that “as digital technologies transform the agricultural sector globally, we in the Caribbean have no option but to embrace these new possibilities to give food security to our people.” These, he said, “will also reap the many attendant benefits such as creating precious jobs, exports, boosting trade and driving growth by creating new opportunities for Caribbean people.”
Previous failed attempts to create a Caribbean-wide alliance that would lead to a strong regional agricultural sector have foundered on the rocks of the region’s failure to go forward with initiatives between and among CARICOM member countries, the most recent one involving Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago almost ten years ago.
Currently, the focus of attention is the region’s estimated US$5 billion food import bill, testimony to its failure to maximise the opportunities to realise regional food security as well as to effectively access and exploit a lucrative international market for agricultural commodities. While the Caribbean Export release notes that the region has set itself a target of reducing its food import bill by 25% by 2025, there is as yet no known indication of any serious collective move in that direction.
The Caribbean Export release states that that allied to the region’s burgeoning food import bill are “heightened concerns regarding non-communicable diseases, exposure to the vagaries of weather due to climate change and natural disasters,” circumstances which it says have meant that “food security has become an imperative part of sustainable development.”
Caribbean Export asserts that what is being described as a Caribbean AgTech Investment Summit will “showcase opportunities for agricultural technology companies in the Caribbean and globally to invest.” The event, the release adds, “will feature AgTech success stories and provide information on the business environment in the Caribbean, and the support mechanisms available to potential investors interested in exploring the region as an AgTech investment destination.”
