* Regional ministerial task force set up for 25 by 2025 vision 
* PM Mottley to complete proposal for establishing regional transportation framework 
* CARICOM Secretariat to commission study on ways to increase women & youth participation in agriculture

SEVERAL CARICOM Heads of Government and other high-level representatives have agreed to the setting up of a special committee that would immediately prepare proposals for the elimination of trade barriers, particularly non-tariff barriers, which currently inhibit the development of agri-food systems within the region.

This committee’s proposal, which will include time-bound deadlines, will be presented at a special meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government in the third quarter of 2022. There has also been an agreement for the mandating of the CARICOM Ministerial Task Force on food security to propose an implementation schedule of “25 by 2025” for urgent consideration by Heads of Government.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, together with the Heads of Government in the quasi-Cabinet responsible for Transport (Marítime and Aviation) and Agriculture, have also been requested to complete a proposal to establish adequate and sustainable regional transportation, after consultation with the Caribbean private sector, the international donor community and multilateral development agencies, for consideration by Heads of Government in July 2022.

These measures are part of four priority areas that have been identified for the adoption by all CARICOM Heads of Government, including through the speedy implementation of decisions to address food security urgently and sustainably.

The four priority areas are: food insecurity, regional transportation, trade barriers and women and youth.
These priority areas were decided at an important and timely forum held with the Heads of Government and other representatives during the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo, which ended on Saturday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Guyana.

“The representative Group of Heads of Governments and other high-level representatives emphasized the urgency in implementing the four priority issues which they have identified as imperative, not only to surmount the current grave challenges of food shortages and high food prices that the region faces, but to overcome them in a sustainable and lasting manner,” a statement issued on Saturday noted.

According to the outcome statement, the group took the opportunity to discuss the current grave global situation of the shortages and high prices of imported food; the shortage and increased prices of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs; and the severe problems affecting transportation and supply.

“The member states of CARICOM have been deeply impacted by these developments which have resulted in a dramatic increase in the cost of food, exposing still further the region’s food insecurity due to its vulnerability to external influences,” the statement pointed out.

It further noted that: “Within CARICOM, member states have the capacity to attain a high level of food security for the Community as a whole, provided that urgent action is taken to establish sustainable machinery, and to adhere to the terms of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.”
The Special Committee responsible for trade barriers will be convened by the Minister in the CARICOM quasi-Cabinet responsible for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Trade barriers have been continuously identified as the biggest impediment to the moving forward of “25 by 2025” initiative, whereby CARICOM aims to reduce the extra-regional food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.
The initiative was proposed by President, Dr. Irfaan Ali to the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in March 2022 when he presented the “Advancing the CARICOM Agri-Food Systems Agenda: Prioritising Food and Nutrition Security and the 25 by 2025Plan”.
The initiative put forth by Dr. Ali builds on the 2005 “Framework for the repositioning of Caribbean agriculture” (the Jagdeo initiative) which was agreed to by CARICOM Governments, however, that initiative suffered from a lack of action to implement. The Jagdeo initiative was the work of former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
Earlier this week, Dr. Jagdeo delivered a presentation on “Addressing Key binding constraints to agriculture growth” during the Agri-Forum, where he noted that the monopolising of retail trade across the Caribbean by a single large group has contributed to the influencing of many existing trade barriers that has affected the moving forward of increased food production in the region.
Jagdeo emphasised that strong political will would be needed to break this existing impediment, which often presents itself in the form of restrictive phytosanitary standards in some of the region’s countries.
“I’m not going to call countries but many of you know what I’m talking about. Often they’re [the monopolizing businesses] very politically connected. To get to open up trade, we have to almost break that monopoly and it’s not going to happen easily. Many of them are the ones that lobby and have deep connections within the government,” Dr. Jagdeo noted.
On the issue of regional transportation, the statement noted that the lack of adequate regional transportation by sea and air has been recognised as an obstacle to the transportation of food within the region.
“The Group was heartened by the advice of the Caribbean Development Bank that it is willing to use its best efforts to mobilise resources in this effort,” the statement noted.
In the area of youth and women, the CARICOM Secretariat will be authorised to commission an urgent study for consideration by the Special Meeting of Heads of Government proposed for the third quarter of this year, on ways to attract and expand the participation of youth and women by at least 20 per cent by 2025.
“Recognising and affirming the importance of the participation of women and youth in agriculture, both to enlarge the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of national economies and to empower the two groups to share in the earnings that can be generated by a vibrant agricultural sector,” the statement said.

The group also commended Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, and President Ali for the creation of the food security initiative and the hosting of the investment forum.
“They welcomed with great appreciation the important and timely initiative by Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali of organising the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo from which these deliberations and recommendations have been made.   They looked forward enthusiastically to maintaining the momentum, generated by this meeting, at a follow-up “Agriculture and Food Security Forum” in Trinidad and Tobago in August 2022,” the statement noted.