– synergies will support coordinated efforts to tackle food insecurity, says Minister Persaud
A two-day regional consultation on policy and programmatic actions to address high food prices in the Caribbean will kick off today in Trinidad and Tobago, and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud has said that the region cannot afford inaction when it comes to addressing food security.
Persaud was speaking on Thursday at the closing of a two-day workshop organized through Colombia’s South-South Cooperation Strategy with the Caribbean Basin on the third Nutritional Food Security Technical Tour at Cara Lodge in Georgetown.
“Synergies will allow us to learn from each other and also help us to have coordinated efforts to tackle the issue of food security,” he posited.
Persaud stated that through the exchange of experiences, countries will be better placed to tackle food security since they would be advancing initiatives that have been proven to improve a country’s circumstances.
The agriculture minister explained that the issue of food security must be addressed holistically, particularly since the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has predicted that the situation of the global markets will worsen.
“We have a worry for countries that are food insecure when you consider the FAO predictions,” he said.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER

Persaud contends that CARICOM needs to get its act together when it comes to investment in agriculture, and pointed out that Guyana has proactive national policies to ensure that the nation copes with global changes, particularly as it relates to the food security.
“I have always asserted to our international partners and investors that a dollar spent in agriculture here not only benefits Guyanese; it is an indirect investment in the region’s food supply system,” he said.
He noted that Guyana is not only food secure, but a net exporter of food.
“Guyana has been firm in advocating investment in agriculture…there is still work to do,” Persaud said.
He singled out the Jagdeo Initiative and said the slothful momentum in the initiative’s advance has not augured well for the Caribbean Region, especially as it faces the current food crisis.
The Jagdeo Initiative aims at developing and implementing targeted, focused and practical interventions to overcome the constraints facing agriculture. Spearheaded by President Bharrat Jagdeo, it has been endorsed throughout the Caribbean for its thorough analysis of the state of agriculture, its hard look at internal and external factors, and for deepening the discussion of fundamental areas that need improvement, reform and initiation.
Persaud stressed that addressing food insecurity is an imperative as, faced with the current increases in food prices on the world market, countries can face problems of political and social instability, among other difficulties.
“Partnerships are useful and moving forward by forging synergies, these collaborations will have positive impacts…the region will be better placed,” he posited.
A total of 16 Caribbean countries in FAO Caribbean sub-region (CARICOM Member States, Cuba and The Dominican Republic) will participate in the consultation. Regional inter-governmental organisations, development partners, bilateral donors, research institutions, the private sector and civil society organizations will also be involved.
The consultation is aimed at assisting the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) in identifying various options in the immediate, medium and long-term, in response to the crisis.
The meeting will examine the CARICOM Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy (RFNSP), which is set in the context of a mix of linked national and regional policies, including the Community Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH) and the Community Agribusiness Strategy (CAS).
Food prices are continuing its steady rise and the FAO is out with a new report last week on the world food outlook that foresees a continued tight balance between supply and demand, and continued high prices, this year and into 2012.