PRESIDENT David Granger, in his capacity as the CARICOM Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Agriculture, met on Thursday with officials of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) to discuss his vision for Caribbean agriculture.CARDI’s Executive Director, Mr. Barton Clarke; Technical Services Manager Mr. Francis Asiedu; and the Guyana Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Noel Holder, attended the meeting, held at the Ministry of the Presidency.

In a brief comment after the meeting, Clarke said that discussions focused on CARDI’s role in agriculture in the Region, and whether CARDI is effectively fulfilling that role in its current programme of operation.

“We spoke of what is necessary in order to be able to crystallize very clearly what is Caribbean agriculture; what is the role of CARDI, [and] what is the engagement that we are going to have with the political directorate of the Caribbean under the leadership of the President of Guyana, toward elucidating and facilitating of [the] said role,”
Mr. Clarke said.

The meeting also discussed the CARICOM Strategic Plan for Regional Development 2015-2019, of which agriculture is a significant component. This is the Region’s first ever strategic plan on agriculture. It was approved in July 2014 at the 35th CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda.
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Caption: President David Granger is flanked at the Ministry of the Presidency by, from left: Agriculture Minister Mr. Noel Holder; Executive Director of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Mr. Barton Clarke; and CARDI’s Technical Services Manager, Mr. Francis Asiedu