Caribbean agriculture ministers call for deeper regional integration, new financing model

Caribbean agriculture ministers are calling for deeper regional integration, improved transportation and logistics, and a new financing model to strengthen food security and transform the region’s food systems.

The call came during a plenary session on September 28 at Caribbean Week of Agriculture, held at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny, Jamaica, where ministers warned that the region’s food security ambitions cannot be achieved without dismantling trade barriers, harmonising standards and building the infrastructure needed to move agricultural produce efficiently between countries.

The session, titled ‘Achieving the Region’s Vision 25 By 2025+5: The Roadmap for Regional Food Security and Food Systems Transformation’, was moderated by Ambassador David Prendergast, Director of Sectoral Programmes at the CARICOM Secretariat.

Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, joined counterparts from Barbados, Belize and Saint Lucia to assess progress and outline priorities for achieving the region’s food security goals by 2030.

Belize’s Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and New Growth Industries, Rodwell Ferguson, stressed the need for greater intra-regional trade.

“I do not believe that we are trading as much as possible with each other. We must help each other survive,” Ferguson said.

Ministers identified inadequate air and sea links, limited cold-chain storage and inefficient border processes as major obstacles to moving agricultural commodities from countries with surpluses to those experiencing shortages.

They said improved transportation networks and the development of regional food hubs are essential to ensuring that increased production translates into greater food availability across the Caribbean.

The discussions also highlighted the need for harmonised regional standards to facilitate trade. Saint Lucia’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Sustainable Development, Lisa Jawahir, said consistent standards would help the country’s value-added products meet regional quality requirements and compete fairly in the regional market.

Meanwhile, Green pointed to Jamaica’s progress in domestic agricultural production, despite weather-related setbacks.

“We used to average approximately 600,000 tonnes of domestic production. In 2022/2023 we hit our highest level ever at 841,000 tonnes,” he said.

“And despite losing the entire last quarter because of Hurricane Melissa, we still ended the year with our second highest level of domestic production.”

Green said building resilience requires countries to prepare for disasters before they occur.

“In order to build a resilient food system, we must build forward. As Caribbean nations, we do not have the luxury of waiting until a disaster strikes to put measures in place. We must plan ahead,” he said.

He also highlighted initiatives aimed at encouraging youth and women to enter agriculture, including land allocations, a moratorium on lease payments and an agribusiness challenge designed to stimulate innovation.

Financing emerged as another major concern, with ministers arguing that international funding arrangements must better reflect the Caribbean’s vulnerability to climate shocks, small market sizes and limited collateral.

Barbados’ Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Shantal Munro-Knight, said the region needed partners who understood its circumstances.

“We must have investment partners who truly understand our nuances as a region,” she said.

Green called on international financing institutions to develop funding arrangements tailored to the Caribbean’s needs.

“We need to redefine financing for the region and not try to fit the Caribbean into an archaic box for financing,” he said.

“I’m challenging our international partners to come up with a financing model for the region that takes our own risks into consideration. If we can finalise a model endorsed by the financing bodies this week, then CWA would have certainly achieved something.”

The plenary ended with a call for concrete action in areas including capacity building, trade facilitation and the development of agricultural technology ecosystems, as Caribbean countries seek to strengthen regional cooperation and advance food security towards 2030.

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