There are strong indications among some countries in the Caribbean that the highly-touted regional objective of reducing extra regional food imports by 25% by 2025 is not anywhere close to being achievable in the wake of the setback in sections of the region’s agricultural sector deriving from Hurricane Beryl and the damage it wreaked in several CARICOM territories.
While, as a region, the Community itself has made no comment on the achievability or otherwise of the objective, prior to the devastation wreaked by Beryl, it appears that some CARICOM member countries may now be hedging their bets on the likelihood that 25×2025 will not become a reality given the direct, and in some instances, devastating damages that have been done to the sector in some Caribbean countries that were expected to ‘chip in’ to help realize the 25×2025 objective. However, once Hurricane Beryl had made its devastating intervention, it is unlikely that the region could reach what even prior to the hurricane was felt to be a ‘big ask.’