THE multi-sectoral stakeholders who were gathered for the Caribbean Agriculture Insurance Symposium on Disaster Risk Management in Antigua have prioritized the establishment of a Regional Programme for disaster risk management as the first step forward towards the development of agriculture in the Region.

Deficient and uncoordinated risk management measures are identified in the Jagdeo Initiative as a key binding constraint to agriculture sector development. To this end, the meeting was convened to allow policymakers, technical advisers, development partners and representatives farmers’ organizations and private sector companies to discuss strategies for the development of a sufficiently coordinated framework for disaster risk management in the Caribbean Region.

The three-day Symposium, which ended in Antigua and Barbuda on Friday last, was coordinated by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, the Ministry of Agriculture of Antigua and Barbuda and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and Government of Australia Aid Programme also supported the event.

The group of stakeholders who attended the Symposium also included members of the agricultural subsector Technical Management Advisory Committee (TMAC) including the CARICOM Secretariat, IICA, FAO, CDEMA, and other regional organisations.

In summing up the three-day proceedings, the Ministers of Agriculture present, stressed the importance of a coordinated approach going forward.

Honourable Matthew Walter, Dominica’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry said that he was fully committed to working with TMAC to achieve its goals.

He said the forum had generated “many salient ideas,” adding that agricultural insurance was “not insurmountable” and could be achieved through the exchange of ideas and resources.

In developing a programme to respond to the risks in the agriculture sector, he said it was critical for the Region to choose the most appropriate insurance scheme that will “adequately respond” to agriculture sub-sectors included crops, livestock, fisheries or forestry.

“We need to set ourselves specific and realistic time frames and not expect coverage for everything at one time – but we have to set the ball rolling,” Minister Walter said.

In his closing remarks, Grenada’s Minister of Agriculture Mr. Michael Dennis Lett, took the opportunity to thank the funding agencies for “paving the way” for the meeting to take place.

He said Grenada’s challenges with assisting farmers to resuscitate their lands after the passage of Hurricane Ivan, had proven that a regional agriculture framework “will go a long way.”

Mr. Hilton Baptiste, Antigua and Barbuda Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and Environment reiterated the need for urgent action in the development of a coordinated framework for disaster risk management for the sector. He was also optimistic of the continued support of development partners in the process.

Senior Economist at the World Bank, Mr. Carlos Arce, was moved by the “high level of enthusiasm” demonstrated by the ministers and agriculture officials at the Symposium. According to a statement from the CARICOM Secretariat, Mr. Arce said he sensed that the stakeholders felt “patience was wearing thin.”
What was advantageous going forward, Mr. Arce said, was the fact that much work had been done already.

He said the Action Plan, which is to be extracted from the report on the Symposium, was “exemplary work.” The Action Plan is expected to be developed by TMAC and presented to the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) when it meets later this year.

“The World Bank was optimistic about the Symposium and after seeing the determination in seeing action, we are more optimistic,” the senior economist stated.
He urged the stakeholders to keep monitoring the regional agenda for agriculture risk management.