Agriculture Minister says

WITH the goal of addressing the growing food import bill in the Caribbean region, the Agri-Investment Forum and Expo, touted to be bigger than last year, has garnered significant anticipation, according to Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha.
He made these remarks on Wednesday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), where he also conducted a walk-through of the venue, to show the ongoing preparations.
With some 150 exhibitors and over 80 agro-processors, Mustapha stated that this clearly demonstrates a growing interest in the agricultural sector.
Speaking more on what one can expect this Friday, he said: “On display would be [the] individual and collective potential [to] develop the regional agricultural sector, plans for food security and emerging prospect in CARICOM agriculture; including technological and logistical solutions.”
The grand exposition will take place under the theme, “Achieving Vision 25 by 2025” and will include stakeholders from different countries, as well as local agro-processors who will display a wide range of agricultural produce.

Also, several Caribbean officials and international partners have indicated their participation in this year’s event.
The event is being held as (CARICOM) takes decisive steps to reduce its US$6B food-importation bill by 25 per cent in the next five years (25 by 25).
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 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.
Already CARICOM has achieved 57 per cent of its food production targets.

It was previously reported by the region’s Ministerial Taskforce that products such as cocoa, dairy, meat, root crops, fruits, and poultry have already reached 96.13 per cent, 84.36 per cent, 72.28 per cent, 70.91 per cent, 70.77 per cent, and 70.19 per cent respectively, for the targeted production volume set for the year 2025.

Moreover, countries such as Guyana, Belize, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Dominica, and Jamaica have made significant strides in the production of commodities such as ginger, turmeric, corn, soya bean, root crops, fruits, cocoa, poultry, meat, fish, table eggs, and dairy.
Already, priority areas have been identified for 2023. These include agriculture insurance and financing, trade and E-agriculture, resource mobilisation, and trade support.