The Caribbean region will soon have access to a US$250,000 special fund to assist in the goal to reduce its food imports by 2025.
This was announced by IICA Director General Manuel Otero in a release from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) which informed that it will create a Special Fund for the Caribbean to promote initiatives and actions aimed at assisting countries in the region in meeting the goal of reducing their multi-million dollar food import bill by 25% by 2025.
Otero stated, “This decision will enable IICA to facilitate greater integration among Caribbean countries through hemispheric partnerships and South-South and triangular cooperation projects that promote food and nutritional security. We are also deepening our commitment to improving the quality of life of people in the Caribbean.”
The fund, the release explained, is one of the priorities of IICA, which will be working closely with that region to strengthen food and nutritional security for the population. It highlighted that strengthening the climate resilience of the Caribbean agriculture sector is “crucial” given the region’s particular vulnerability to the impact of climate change. Through the creation of the US$250,00 fund, the institute says it will promote a series of activities aimed at enhancing the resilience of producers and the capacities of the public and private sectors.
It also took note of the fact that most Caribbean countries are net food importers with at least seven countries importing more than 80 per cent of the food they consume, with an estimated regional food bill of US$6 billion per year. Thus, it is for this reason that countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have made progress on its “Vision 25% by 2025” project which seeks to reduce the region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.
According to the IICA, “this initiative addresses the need to strengthen food and nutritional security in the Caribbean in an effort to increase local food production, improve intraregional trade and foster the creation of wealth and economic opportunities in the agriculture sector of countries in the region.”
Capacity building
The IICA also disclosed that through the Special Fund, it developed a programme aimed at among other things, promoting climate-resilient agro-ecological systems and mechanisms; building capacities for integrated water and soil management; managing agricultural disaster risks; fostering digital technologies; delivering training on clean seed production and strategic crops such as pineapples and potatoes; driving the adoption of sustainable animal production models to replace and reduce animal protein imports; and promoting agricultural entrepreneurship for young people and women through business incubators.
As part of these initiatives, training workshops, training activities and events will be organised to disseminate good practices related to various crops, sustainable livestock farming, caring for soil health, and climate change adaptation.
Regional agreements
Last August, CARICOM and IICA signed an agreement to prioritise their joint actions in the Caribbean to achieve joint progress in developing agricultural and rural development policies, bolstering production systems, strengthening value chains, enhancing the resilience of the agriculture sector and improving land use. The agreement was signed by the IICA Director General and CARICOM Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett.
In addition, the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, visited IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica, last October.
IICA is also working together with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) to support key technological actions in the region by means of a financing fund, the release added.
