to achieve food security goals by 2025
President Ali says no room for ‘paralysis of action’, calls on nations to persevere

FOR the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to achieve its ambitious food security targets by 2025, it will need to produce in excess of 1.4 million tonnes of commodities over the next two years.

This is according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who is the lead Head of Government with responsibility for Agriculture in CARICOM, during the launch of this year’s Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) activities on Friday.

Ali, who joined the event virtually, said that while the region has made significant strides in expanding production to reduce its hefty food-import bill, much more needs to be done.
The Ministerial Task Force, which is chaired by Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, has partnered with the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) to identify commodities for concentrated regional policy support.

According to President Ali, these commodities include poultry meat, corn, soybeans and rice for feed production; meat (beef, pork and mutton); niche vegetables; and coconut products.
Already, the region has achieved 57 per cent of the production target towards reducing the food-import bill by 25 per cent by 2025, however, stakeholders have to produce 1.4 million tonnes of these commodities.

“We have the political will, and, more importantly, we have the capacity within CARICOM to achieve this, and to produce quality food for our people,” President Ali said.
Noting that the Caribbean Week of Agriculture is an important forum for leaders to review their success and address the remaining targets, the Guyanese Head of State said, “Vision 25 by 2025 represents a tipping point for the Caribbean. Failure must not be contemplated; we must persevere. Paralysis of action will be fatal.”
He further reiterated Guyana’s commitment to providing leadership and support to other countries.

Notably, Guyana, in the first half of 2023, cultivated over 3,000 acres of soybeans, and over 1,200 acres of corn. The country has also increased its coconut production, with over 5,000 newly-established acres of coconut cultivated from 2021 to January to June 2023 with new coconut nurseries.

Meanwhile, the production of high-value crops such as carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower is being promoted with the establishment of shade houses across the country.
The country has also undertaken several massive projects to increase the production of rice, meat, and dairy products. Investments are also being made to expand the aquaculture sector.
Dr. Ali further urged regional leaders to formulate implementable actions on issues such as resilient food production systems, trade solutions (such as Online platforms, facilitating financial flows, block chain applications, and transportation solutions), new agri-business opportunities (such as youth and women involvement), marketplace and product development, and secure innovative funding and agri-food investment opportunities.

At the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, held in Belize back in 2022, it was announced that Guyana would host the region’s first agriculture Regional Agri-Investment Forum and Expo. The second such event was held in Trinidad & Tobago later that same year.
This year, in Guyana, the conference will be held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre from October 20-22.
At the launch of the ‘expo’ held in August, Guyana’s Agriculture Minister revealed that US$7.5 billion in investments is needed for the region to achieve its goals.