The Region’s business community is being encouraged to engage in detailed strategic planning in an effort to prioritise recovery opportunities in their re-opening strategies.
Speaking at an FAO sponsored webinar under the theme “Enabling agricultural investment in the Caribbean for an effective response and post-COVID-19 recovery” last Thursday, CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary-General Joseph Cox pointed out that regionally, there is no food shortage but a misalignment of supply and demand which is compounded by a dysfunctional price mechanism.

According to Cox, businesses should develop detailed relaunch maps, which would allow for very granular assessments of their production process and overall supply chain. This he argues would also guide marketing and sales endeavours to help to determine a recovery timeline for each product line and also aid in reviving demand. Cox argues that emphasis must be placed on securing the supply chain to facilitate strategic procurement, which will increase confidence and minimise disruptions.

He also suggested that businesses focus on developing both a baseline scenario for reopening their enterprise and an alternative scenario in the event of renewed contagion and market disruption. According to Cox, there is need for the strengthening of our ability to anticipate and meet demand and establish a phased recovery process while interrogating and tweaking the value chain at every step. (Extract from CARICOM Business)