GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Montserrat has called on CARICOM countries to rally in support of the initiative being spearheaded by Guyana to promote regional food security.
CARICOM leaders attending Agri-Investment forum“When discussions began on reducing food import bill by 25 percent by 2025, I was skeptical, as a Caribbean man. I have heard it time and time again and we have failed, but I’m convinced, having seen the energy, enthusiasm with which your president embarked on this mission, I am convinced that it can come to fruition,” Premier Joseph E. Farrell, said.
Farrell, addressing the three-day inaugural Agri-Investment Forum and Expo being hosted by the Guyana government and the CARICOM Secretariat, said that after gaining independence or republican status, not many Caribbean states invested in agriculture, but focused more on sectors such as education, manufacturing and technology.
“Indeed, we have been taught as a nation, as a people, that anything that is foreign is good, and so we enjoy importing food from other places out of the region. We spend our limited resources that we could use for healthcare systems and other social safety nets, to import food, rather than developing our own sectors,” he said.’
The event, which is being held under the theme “ Investing in Vision 25 by 2025” ends on Saturday and is being attended by several regional leaders.
Farrell told the event that regional countries should consider what happened during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when Caribbean nations could not access Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), from external suppliers.
“What if something happens and the region is not able to produce food? Our people will die, and that is why we must all rally around this vision, and put it into practice so that at least we begin to produce food for the nations of the region. It is absolutely critical that we do that.”
He said Montserrat, imports 75 percent of its poultry products and 85 percent of its food from outside the region, describing the situation as “embarrassing.”
The Premier also noted the issue of connectivity in the region and challenged persons to invest in shipping. “Why should I be importing onions from North America, when my colleagues from the region have lands, enough to produce it?”
He said that the biggest factor is not that food is not available in some countries in the region, but getting food where it is most needed.
“For over 25 years the region has been speaking to movement of food from one country to the other, and to this day we have not succeeded, so then we now need investment in shipping, so that we can move those products from Guyana in the South, to Jamaica in the north, from Dominica in the south to Montserrat and Antigua. This is what we need at this point in time.
“Let us put our money where our mouth is and invest in shipping,” he added.
The Premier also noted the importance of food and nutrition security, as there is a high number of non-communicable diseases in the region. He said food produced must be high valued, and not necessarily for use outside for of the region.
“There is no need for all of us to produce everything. We must begin to specialize. If Belize is producing oranges, I don’t need to produce oranges, we need to specialize and seriously produce and get those produce out of our countries and to the countries who need them most,” he added.
Farrell also urged the youths to take up the challenge of finding a solution to irrigation water challenges in the region to maximize the use of water.
“The government of Montserrat is supportive in working with CARICOM to achieve vision 25 by 2025,” he told the gathering.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago says in order to encourage entrepreneurial recognition with the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), there needs to be a single company register within the region. The CSME allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labor and services across the 15-member grouping.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, told the ceremony that he is holding talks with his Barbados counterpart, Mia Mottley on establishing a platform where registered companies operate within the confines of a single market.
He said the intention is that once a company is registered within a CARICOM state, it is deemed registered everywhere in the CARICOM.
“It is the simple straightforward way to encourage entrepreneurial recognition under the law. It will remove a lot of the impediments,” Rowley said, adding that if CARICOM is to significantly increase agricultural production, it must address all the issues affecting the trade of goods, and services within the region.
Other issues to be addressed include transport, and Prime Minister Rowley therefore, used the opportunity to call on international partners to lend support in this regard.
“If you really want to help CARICOM, then help the team of governments to fund and have operating vessels of that nature to bring people together by seas…It has been done; it needs to be done. Goods and services by sea after by rail is cheapest.”
He said Guyana’s role in achieving food security within CARICOM is important.
“Guyana’s role in giving us the opportunity to the state at which we can produce to be a participant in feeding ourselves is important, and that’s why I am here to support Guyana’s initiative driven by President Ali and the Vice President (Bharrat Jagdeo) of Guyana as integral leaders in CARICOM.”
He has since called on member states to do what needs to be done to increase agriculture production, while ensuring the full implementation and realization of the CSME.
“I have seen this before, heard it before and don’t want to hear it again. We know what to do, the question is are we prepared to do it?”
