Less talk and more tangible work towards realistically achievable targets is what is needed if the region is to meet its ‘25 per cent by 2025’ food import reduction bill, President Irfaan Ali yesterday declared as he laid out plans this country has and recommendations for the region.
“We, leaders of CARICOM, though this agri-investment forum, must send a strong message. We must correct the imbalance. We are, and we must, be prepared to achieve the target of 25 by 2025. We cannot lose this momentum. As a region, we cannot continue the importation of billions of dollars in products that we can produce right here locally. Reaching 2025 is looking at investment by all countries collectively,” Ali yesterday emphasised as he delivered the welcome address at the opening of the Agri Investment Forum and Expo.
“…As leaders, our overarching strategy should be aimed at streamlining procedures for exports and imports ,a time-bound commitment to the removal of barriers, developing a pre-clearance system for the export of goods so as to reduce bureaucracy and spoilage, standardisation of certification processes, technical support for developing business proposals for farmers, incentivising institutions, agricultural lands, greater involvement of youth in the production chain…,” he added, listing a number of recommendations, after which he explained what was being done here.
The opening ceremony was held yesterday morning at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown which was followed by sessions involving some 250 participants at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) which is also the site of the expo.
President Ali, who is Lead Head of Government for Agriculture in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet, according to CARICOM Secretary General Carla Barnett, told the heads represented yesterday and those logged in via the internet that the onus is on current leaders to start an active process for achieving food security.
“At the end of the day, it stops on the frontline and sometimes people see it as a stage gathering or the head table, but we see it as the frontline,” he said pointing to the six heads of state and representatives seated on the National Cultural Centre stage.
“Together we are ready to move forward in every aspect of the food production system in this region. Every aspect of and every issue, transport and logistics, every single issue we recognise. If we cannot address in a collective multifaceted manner then we cannot achieve what we are doing,” he added while noting that whenever he spoke of the private sector, farmers are included as they form an integral part of the process.
‘Take action’
Ali gave chilling statistics of how food shortages, the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the current Russian war against Ukraine affected persons in the region.
He specifically singled out delays in transport, logistics impediments, shortages of wheat, and the more recent global shortage of infant formula as why it was everyone in the region’s duty to ensure that food security measures are key.
Turning to marine stocks, Ali said that in addition to situations noted, global warming and unsustainable fishing measures could see a burden placed on the aquaculture sector which in turn could lead to an increase in imports and cost increases.
“We must take action and expand our aquaculture industry as extra regional supplies will become most costly, given the anticipated global decline. Extra regional supplies from aquaculture will be even more costly given the rise of import costs on feed.”
Looking at Guyana, the president pointed out that last year alone, this country imported 100 metric tonnes of fish and fish products amounting to some US$240 million. “In Guyana and the rest of the region, the proposed path must be to improve management of the fisheries sector to invest in aquaculture to supply farmers,” Ali posited.
But in Guyana, according to data from Ali, “we have taken several initiatives to achieve the 25% reduction 2025 target.”
Comparing this country’s current production on commodities and goods and targets set for year 2025, the President noted that poultry production is currently at 50,000 metric tonnes but the projection is to take this to 90,000 by 2025.
Corn and soya production here is at 4,300 metric tonnes and has a projection of 35,000 while rice is at 560 metric tonnes and has a projection of 847 metric tonnes.
Some 324,000 metric tonnes of vegetables are produced and government will support measures to take this to 400,000 by 2025.
“To reduce our import bill, which is approximately US$30 million, we have entered into partnership and collaboration with our private sector, building consortium and partnering with young people in the production of high value crops, shade houses for young people, young people investing in shrimp production. There is also a $651 million investment just for the soy and corn project. For aquaculture, we invested more than $100 million in the brackish water shrimp which increased from 250 kg to 1.2 million kg in one year. This tells a story that we have the ability and the know how to do this, once we embrace this path. We intend to invest another $150 million to boost this production by more than 100%,” he said.
“There is $200 million in a grow-out farm for pacific white leg shrimp, $40 million for facilitation of research into breed programmes… for wheat, we embarked on a research to see if there is a variety that can be planted here to meet our national needs and then the region [and] so far we have we have seen promising results. Infrastructure wise, we have invested heavily in projects such as farm to market roads and other key infrastructure to support this sector… We are matching the targets with the incentives from government,” he added.
Ali also listed the partnership initiative with Barbados where 1,000 black belly sheep from that country will be brought here, a programme where a food terminal will be launched next week, and the ‘50 shade houses in Barbados’ initiative.
‘Challenges’
Each passing day, Ali said, can be used to work on ways to increase food production across the region and he called on heads of governments to work against the challenges to ensure their objective is achieved.
“In achieving this there are many challenges facing us, all of which we are working to reduce with the private sector in the areas of financing, logistics, and transport, improving primary production, improving agro- processing linking market to produce, and most importantly, trade barriers that continue to haunt our effects in working as a collective,” the president said.
And like President Ali, Caricom Secretary General Carla Barnett and Chairman, Belizean Prime Minister Antonio Briceño, noted how world events impact lives across the board and that CARICOM must work collectively to ensure their food security.
“We have come together today to make another important step on our journey towards reducing the regional food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025. This clear objective set by CARICOM Heads of Government requires rebooting of our agriculture sector to improve production and productivity, and intra-regional trade. That is what “Investing in Vision 25 by 2025” is all about,” Barnett said.
“For the Caribbean Community, investing in Vision 25 by 2025 for greater food and nutrition security is not just a concept, but an urgent necessity. It is a statement of commitment by the Heads of Government which demonstrates that the time for action is now. The path to the transformation of our regional food systems is in our hands… This Forum and Expo seeks to provide opportunities for investment, new project development and technological advancement for the CARICOM Agri-Food System. The results and outcomes of this event must serve as a medium to enhance the production efficiency, livelihoods and competitiveness of our hard-working farmers, agro-processors and marketers who stand to benefit from the various technological, logistical and financial solutions that are on offer.” she added.
‘Poised’
The Caricom Secretary General said that the region’s task comes at a time of great global uncertainty as not only has the COVID-19 pandemic exacted a significant toll on economies, but countries are now facing significantly increased prices of food, fuel and other basic goods, due to the war in Ukraine and long-lasting supply chain disruptions.
“This adds to the stresses on the livelihoods of the vulnerable people in our populations, increases the cost of doing business and places additional pressures on government budgets. With the on-going removal of the restrictions that came with the pandemic, our economies are now poised to recover some of the ground lost during those trying times. It is a stressful time that is testing our resilience significantly. However, I believe that the spirit of cooperation, which we have always shown in times of adversity, will be the bedrock upon which we overcome the current challenges.
“Agriculture, though, is what we are focusing on single-mindedly today. It has the potential to contribute significantly to economic recovery and resilience, and drive inclusive socio-economic development for the Region. It is a major pillar, upon which we can build to develop the human and economic capital which exists within our Region. Today, we do not only stress the importance of increased investment in our food and agriculture sector if we are to meet our goal of greater food and nutrition security, we also demonstrate the willingness to do the level of planning and execution together with the full range of stakeholders that we need to be working together to achieve the 25 by 2025 vision – from investors to farmers to technology providers to agro-processors to consumers. With food prices now at their highest levels since 2008, we are doing what we must do to seize this challenge as the opportunity to increase our own production for trade within the regional markets and further afield.
But CARICOM is not underestimating the task at hand. “Success will require increased support from our governments to alleviate the technological, logistical and financing constraints faced by our producers. This will require hard decisions to be made on the allocation of funding to agricultural and rural development, agricultural research, national transportation – those allied sectors and services that play important roles in bringing technological solutions to our farming communities and bringing production to market,” the CARICOM SG asserted.
She added, “private investment is crucial for sustained growth of production and productivity in agriculture, as in any sector. This is why it is very heartening to see that so many investors have responded to the call to actively participate in this important event. There will be a lot of follow-up work to be done, to ensure that there are concrete results flowing from this engagement and we are here to do everything possible to assist. As we move to achieve the Vision 25 by 2025, we must seek to take deliberate steps to ensure that we recognise the role that women and youth already play as farmers, but we must fully integrate our women and our youth into mainstream planning for agriculture development. I am, therefore, happy to note that there will be special sessions dedicated to addressing the concerns and aspirations of these two important groups of stakeholders.”
For Briceño, CARICOM nations should not make the process of agricultural economic and trade development complicated for each other as it serves no nation any good.
“It is imperative that action is taken to maximize the benefits of present opportunities,” he said.
And heaping praise on Ali who leads the current food import reduction initiative, he added “As heads we are convinced that Ali’s plans are “realistic, more so they are imperative if we are to achieve food security for our Caricom Region”
“As a CARICOM region we must do better to remove those technical barriers to trade that most of us impose on each other. Let us instead use our effects to support the good of the agro development sector…,” Briceño added.
