THE Government of Guyana recently hosted an agriculture summit, the first such activity in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The summit saw the participation of several regional leaders and representatives of several regional institutions including representatives from the private sector.

The summit could not have come at a more opportune time when the region, and for that matter the entire world, is faced with a food crisis due in part to the war in Ukraine and the continuing adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The prices of food items have skyrocketed, especially that of wheat and grain due to disruptions to grain production and distribution in Russia and Ukraine, both of whom are major producers. In addition, there has been a surge in the price of fuel on the world market which has further worsened the cost of basic food items driven by higher transportation cost.

In the midst of an apparent threat to food and nutrition security in Guyana and the region, President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and the PPP/C administration has risen admirably to the challenges posed by factors that are primarily exogenous, resulting from a convergence of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

At the national level, several policy interventions were made to cushion the impact of the crisis on the Guyanese people, especially the more vulnerable segments of the population. These included cash grants, food subsidies, reductions and in some cases waiver of value-added taxes and more recently the distribution of free fertilisers to the nation’s farmers. Plans are underway to grow wheat in Guyana with encouraging results which could very well be a game changer in terms of food and nutrition security in the country and for that matter the region as a whole.

The challenges to meeting the food and nutritional needs of the region are daunting but not unattainable provided that the political will is there to so do. Guyana, as the country with the lead role for agriculture in CARICOM has been taking its responsibility seriously but it will take the collective efforts of all member states if the goal of attaining the 25 by 25 target is to be realised.

With 2025 a mere three years away, it would require swift action and renewed commitment by all countries, in addition to making the required resources, both financial and technical, available. As pointed out by Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, an estimated US$ 7.5 billion in private sector investments are needed for the realisation of the set goals within the projected timeframe. This would require a change in the mindset of investors, many of whom have an inclination to investments in the non-agricultural sectors, in particular oil and gas, manufacturing and mining.

The framework for food and nutrition security and reductions in the regional food import bill was already laid in 2003 with the Jagdeo Initiative which sought, among other things to address the continuing loss of preferential markets for traditional products and the increasing extra-regional food import bill. In essence, it represented a strategy for removing constraints to the development of agriculture in the region, with the aim of hammering out a common agricultural policy.

This initiative has now been given new and fresh impetus by President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who in his opening address to the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo, described the new 25 by 2025 goal as “very realistic” and achievable. According to President Ali, “there is political will, there is energy in the private sector, there is commitment from financial institutions, donor institutions, and there is a real targeted approach to achieving this from all heads.”

The ingredients for success are there and the platform is there as well. The discussions and deliberations emanating from the summit appeared, in the words of the President “action-oriented” and with a high degree of resolve to move past current barriers to free and unhindered intra-regional trade. It is a fact that perceived national interests at times takes precedence over the broader community imperatives but such an approach is likely to change as the region now seeks a new pathway to food security.

President Ali and the PPP/C Administration must be commended for the several initiatives it is taking to address the issue of food and nutrition security in the region even as the country is now repositioning itself as a major player in the production of oil and gas. This is indeed visionary and forward-looking thinking on the part of President Ali. Indeed, important as oil and gas is to the Guyana economy, as one Caribbean leader puts it, ‘one cannot eat oil and gas’ and in the context of an evolving food crisis there can be nothing more important than ensuring that there is enough food on the table.

In all of this, our farmers must be at the centre of the food production processes. It is a fact that our farmers have been subsidising the cost of food by way of low and declining incomes. This Agri-Summit could very well prove to be a defining moment for farmers in Guyana and the region and for resilient agricultural development in general.