-not on agenda for CARICOM HoG meeting

THE Government will be making moves to diversify in the area of agriculture as it gears up to review the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), more commonly known as the “Jagdeo Initiative.”
This was revealed by President David Granger during his weekly broadcast of ‘The Public Interest,’ which was aired on Friday on the state-owned National Communications Network.

According to the President, the Common Agricultural Policy is currently under review. He noted that the government is looking to make greater use of Guyana’s land space of 83,000 square miles.

“I call Guyana the hinterland of the Caribbean, because no other CARICOM country has the land space we have and at present a Barbadian company has invested heavily in the Rupununi and we’re looking at Chinese investments in agriculture,” President Granger said.

As the spokesperson on agriculture, the President explained that the Government wants to make greater use of the savannahs in particular, while simultaneously increasing efforts in the productive sector.

“As you know, there are some serious problems facing sugar as presently constituted. We’re not coming out of sugar or rice, but at the same time we must diversify,” he added.
Given these intentions by the Government, he noted that the agricultural landscape will be transformed in the coming years, and that the important thing about this is that Guyana will be able to produce more food which can be processed and marketed in the Eastern Caribbean.

The Head of State also referenced a recent trip to Washington DC, where sustainable energy and renewable energy sources were discussed. And with regional counterparts already pushing a sustainable/renewable energy agenda, President Granger noted that Guyana must not fall behind.

He revealed though that the Common Agricultural Policy will not be featured on the agenda of the upcoming Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government meeting which is slated for July 4-6 in Guyana.

“Yes, there will be a review [of the policy] but not at this CARICOM Heads of Government meeting. There are other concerns, particularly [the] Single Market and Economy and Security. As you know, we’ve had some threats and the fact that Trinidad and Guyana might face some threats of terrorism, so these are likely to feature on the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting agenda,” the President said.

In 2002, then President Bharrat Jagdeo had said to CARICOM leaders that agriculture had been buckling under pressures from trade reform, natural disasters and policy deficiencies; that the region had a poor implementation track record, with the result that agriculture was not providing the region with food security nor [was it] covering the growing food import bill.

He told them that “… at this stage, we need a policy and strategy which will allow us to decide on what sort of institutions and mechanisms are needed to reposition agriculture.”

Subsequently, Jagdeo was able to call on the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to assist in developing a framework towards a common regional agricultural repositioning strategy.

Under the Jagdeo Initiative, by 2015, agriculture in the region was expected to have “made substantial progress in its contribution to sustainable growth, within a framework of transparent institutions and good governance that enables the transformation of its products and processes, encourages investment, drives entrepreneurship and assures an acceptable and consistent level of food security.”

The scope of the initiative was to define and implement interventions to address Key Binding Constraints within the context of the Community Agricultural Policy; existing and planned complementary initiatives undertaken by national, regional and international organisations; emphasis on non-traditional products, value-added and intensification of diversification and practical programmes with achievable targets.