CARICOM states must develop greater food security and work towards reducing their food import bill.
This statement was part of the remarks made yesterday by the Secretary-General of CARICOM, Irwin LaRocque at a virtual meeting of CARICOM Ministers of Agriculture, Financial Institutions, Donor Organizations and Donor Countries Support for CARICOM Agri-Food and Food Security Response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secretary-General in acknowledging the timing and relevance of the meeting, noted that the Region, like the rest of the world, is wrestling with the health, economic, and social issues arising out of the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
He also noted that the measures used to combat the pandemic are resulting in a large contraction in global economic activity and the effects are “disproportionately” deeper in the Caribbean. He expanded his remark by pointing out that the necessary social distancing and stay-at-home orders have contributed to agricultural market disruption, particularly, regarding harvest and the sale of fresh produce, meat, fish and a range of other value-added agri-food products.
LaRocque went on to state that due to job losses and reduced income, many consumers have had to reduce their expenditures and shift their consumption patterns to processed foods, much of which are imported. In addition, the collapse of tourism, along with the shrinkage of the food service sector, has resulted in an unwelcome surplus of certain agricultural supplies (poultry, vegetables, fish) in several Member States. “The pandemic undoubtedly has brought about an unprecedented shock to the Region’s agri-food system.”
This means, he said, that circumstances now dictate a greater emphasis on building capacity towards greater self-sufficiency in the agri-food sector. Also, with the onset of the annual hurricane season, the reality assumes even greater urgency as several severe storms are forecasted to hit the region.
However, the Secretary-General pointed out that that the crisis has “… provided us with an opportunity to build resilience and enhance our food security. We must take actions that would ensure that we produce the food supplies to sustain our Region, along with the necessary capacity to distribute such supplies,” adding, “It is our chance to reach for the goal of reducing our food import bill by 25 per cent within the next 5 years.”
Therefore the Region must now place maximum emphasis on restoring and facilitating intra-regional trade in agri-food products. And to do so, a system for actively linking buyers to sellers need to put in place, along with removing technical barriers to intra-regional trade. “I am concerned about what appears to be the abuse of such measures. This is an untenable situation that must be rectified if we are to make the requisite progress towards our goals.”
LaRocque expressed the hope that the current project which is funded by the European Union and is being implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in partnership with key Regional Institutions, will assist in addressing the afore-mentioned constraint.
Mention was made of transportation as being another “major” constraint that is impeding the growth of trade according to a study conducted by the Inter-American Bank (IDB) which found that CARICOM intra-regional trade can double if issues relating to transportation, trade facilitation and SPS measures are addressed. He informed that CARICOM has adopted a Multi-Lateral Air Services Agreement (MASA) which could potentially assist the sector, but efforts to develop the regional maritime transportation sector continue to be challenging. “It is an area that is crying out for investment, but so far has not attracted sufficient interest from the private sector.”
Disclosure was made that the regional private sector has been working with governments to devise strategies to build resilience and enhance food security. Dialogue has been initiated at the highest level along with the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) and a plan has been submitted for increasing investment in the agri-food sector in order to reduce the food import bill. The CPSO, LaRocque informed, is also part of the Regional COVID-19 Food Security Task Force, which includes representation from Member States and Regional Institutions.
The Secretary-General spoke of a major initiative – the CARICOM COVID-19 Agri-Food Security Action Plan-which was prepared by the CARICOM Secretariat, in collaboration with partner organisations, including IICA, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
The Plan has the full endorsement of CARICOM Heads of Government and, in addition, Hemispheric Ministers of Agriculture have agreed to support the Region. It outlines interventions to be undertaken by Member States and regional organisations to treat with the immediate agri-food supply needs arising from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to strengthen the Region’s food and nutrition security in the ensuing years.
Some of the immediate actions in the plan mentioned by LaRocque are: the creation of a trade and information portal for Member States and the private sector to access information with the aim of linking excess production with food deficits throughout the Region; intervention by the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) and national Agricultural Health and Food Safety (AHFS) authorities in implementing SPS measures and protocols to facilitate intra-regional agri-food trade; and promoting the availability of relevant planting material, agricultural inputs and livestock feeds. He added that long term actions include the promotion of scientific and technological innovations across all aspects of the agriculture value chain, as well as strategies to create an information and statistical system to support evidence-based decision-making, and to strengthen the financial architecture surrounding agriculture and agribusiness.
The Secretary-General informed that implementation of the plan will be under the leadership of the COVID-19 Food Security Taskforce, which is chaired by Minister of Agriculture of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saboto Caesar. He also thanked the Minister for his leadership and his presentation to the Heads of Government when they approved the plan.
He declared that these are measures that have been initiated by CARICOM Governments, as they seek not only to respond to the immediate challenge posed by COVID-19, but also to build resilience in the agri-food sector and to enhance our food security. “In laying out the plans and actions being undertaken to fulfil the goals of resilience and security, I do so fully aware that accomplishing them requires the co-operation and assistance of our Development Partners. The recovery from this crisis depends on no country or region being left behind. We are committed to doing everything we can to help ourselves, but this is not a crisis that can be defeated by countries on their own and your support is crucial to our successful recovery.”
