Stakeholders of agri-businesses in the Caribbean will meet in Georgetown this week to identify short, medium and long term levels of collaboration to move the sector forward.

The Public-Private Consultation, organised by the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat, which will be held on May 27 and 28, aims at facilitating dialogue between buyers and sellers of agriculture products.

According to a release, the consultation will take stock of ongoing and planned programmes supported by relevant agencies to assess their significance to stakeholders, and identify potential synergies and collaboration in their design and implementation.

The occasion will be chaired by Assistant Secretary-General of Trade and Economic Integration, Caricom Secretariat, Irwin LaRocque; Executive Director, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) of Jamaica, Mr. Al Powell; and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), Geoffrey DaSilva.

The release said that participation is expected from a wide cross-section of agriculture sector representatives, agencies and organisations, international development partners, and large, small and medium enterprises.

Following the ceremonial opening, which will include addresses by the Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud and Caricom Secretary-General Edwin Carrington, an overview of the current Caribbean agro-industry will be presented by Dr Carlisle Pemberton of the University of the West Indies, Mr. Anthony Sandana of the International Trade Centre (ITC), Mr. Vassel Stewart of the Trinidad and Tobago Agri-Business Association (TTABA), and Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, also of the ITC.

The overview will be followed by a buyer-seller dialogue which will dominate the first day of the Consultation.

This discussion will see participation from representatives of large, small and medium enterprises, food and beverage manufacturing industries, restaurant and retail industries, and agro-processors associations.

After lunch, Mr. Vincent Atkins of the Caricom Secretariat will address “The impact of the EPA on the agriculture sector and the implications for Agribusiness”.

It noted that part of the morning session of the next day will be devoted to case studies, lessons learned and good practices.

Participants will hear from representatives of regional and international organisations, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation in Agriculture, NAMDEVCO and Oxfam, as well as the Cristiana Potato Growers Association of Jamaica.

They will later move into working group sessions.
“The Status of the CSME and implications for Agri-Food trade” will be the theme of the lunch presentation, which will be delivered by Caricom Secretariat’s Adviser of Single Market and Sectoral Programmes, Desiree Field-Ridley.

“The consultation is expected to yield a collaborative framework agreement within which priority and concrete actions to be undertaken in the short-term (within six months), medium-term (within a year), and the longer term will be outlined.

“The framework will also identify the agency/agencies responsible for spearheading these actions, as well as required support mechanisms to ensure that there is follow-through,” the press statement said.