With the consolidation of arrangements that seek to ensure that the maritime regime in the Caribbean is robust enough to meet regional challenges, going forward, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has disclosed that it will be undertaking the financing of consultancy services associated with a study that seeks to explore options for the creation of a maritime cargo service among Barbados, Grenada, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
The CDB’s disclosure indicates that the initiative is being undertaken with the intra-regional movement of agricultural products goods very much in mind. The CDB’s media release indicates that the initiative is consistent with its pledge to contribute meaningfully to the enhancement of logistics associated with the improvement of food security in the region and the wider promotion of regional cooperation. The CDB says that its undertaking also seeks to demonstrate its support for the Caribbean Community’s objective of realizing a 25% reduction in extra-regional food imports by 2025.
Deficiencies in the region’s transportation system are widely believed to be one of the primary stumbling blocks to the movement of agricultural products within the Region. The CDB’s Director of Projects, Daniel Best, is on record as saying that ““policymakers in CARICOM have established that intra-regional agricultural trade can balance food deficits and surpluses, contribute to price stability, and increase the diversity of food supply, all of which can achieve greater food and nutrition security for the Caribbean.”
The enhanced focus on strengthening the region’s maritime regime comes at a time when the full and final completion of the establishment of the Regional Food Security Terminal in Barbados will illuminate the need for an enhanced intra-regional sea transport system to support the broader effort to move both agricultural produce and manufactured goods from countries with stronger profiles in the region to those with weaker ones.
Recently, CARICOM Assistant Secretary, Joseph Cox, was quoted as saying that that “the CDB is aware that improving intra-regional trade in agriculture will require interventions across the ecosystem, however, the provision of efficient and sustainable transportation to move agricultural goods will go a far way in achieving 25 by 25.”
Part of the focus of the 25z2025 initiative project will include the exploration of options “for addressing a range of factors affecting the conveyance of agricultural products by sea including management and operational systems, onshore facilities, food safety provisions, and customs and plant quarantine operations. The main objective of the initiative will be “to identify opportunities for urgent improvement in maritime transportation capacity, recommend transportation modalities and provide solutions which utilize existing shipping assets. A Technical Working Group will be established to provide oversight of the study.”
