-President Ali underscores at launch of Agri-insurance programme aimed at protecting farmers’ livelihoods against climate change effects
-Guyana to establish industrial cassava flour mill; will target international, niche markets

THE Caribbean’s agriculture sector serves as the backbone for many economies, but owing to the substantial threats posed by climate change, agriculture insurance is now being pursued to help reduce the vulnerability.
Hurricane Beryl has opened the eyes of many as to how important it is to be insured and, on Friday, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), the Regional Economic Agri-Insurance Programme (REAP) was launched.
Direct payouts for production expenses and business disruptions are provided by REAP’s insurance products. The primary goals of the Caribbean Community’s Special Ministerial Task Force on Food Production and Food Security are similar to that of REAP’s mission, which is to encourage healthy eating habits, increase food security, and maintain financial resilience throughout the Region.

The programme’s innovators are nine Caribbean countries: Dominica, Guyana, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
Vision ‘25 by 2025,’ a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) strategy aimed at reducing the Region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025 has faced a major setback because of Hurricane Beryl.
According to Guyana’s President and Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Irfaan Ali, as the Region builds back what was lost owing to the natural disaster, the future must be crafted within this plan.
With that said, the President highlighted the importance of sustainability and resilience and how systems must be crafted to reflect this.
According to the Head of State, for too long, decisions have been made without data and research on matters such as soil type and the utilisation of land and water.
Primarily, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have been key players in assisting the building out of research and development capability and this is to support decision-making, policy-making and the viability of product and plans, Dr Ali said.

President Ali said: “If we can bank a business plan with good research and data, then we make it easier for the farmers to have access to the banking sector.”
Adding to this, the President stated that the integration of technology with livelihoods, and financial instruments are also essential.
Dr Ali then said: “When we first started this journey, just finding an interesting insurance product was difficult…I would encourage you to formalise a product to now open the wings and to invite all the other brokers, all insurance companies…So that we cover the region.”

TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURE
The Region’s goal of being food secure is not being abandoned despite the challenges as among several targets, Dr Ali explained how Guyana is inching closer to being a self-sufficient producer of the grains and the country will create an industrial cassava flour mill.
He said: “We’ve been able to increase the yield for cassava; by just investing in research and development…We’ve increased production, yield, per acre, by 100 per cent.”
The President explained that while the country was previously experimenting with cassava flour, there was not enough production to support this.
However, Guyana has now ramped up production to the extent that there is adequate production to justify a full cassava flour mill in the country and according to the President, this can be developed in an industrial scale.
He further explained: “We want that cassava flour mill to do two things. One, production differentiation — you can have 100 per cent cassava flour or you can have 50/50 and it goes to niche markets internationally.”
The President disclosed that he was hoping that the facility can be ready within a year.

USING TECHNOLOGY TO PROTECT FARMERS
Managing Director, Lynch Caribbean Brokers, Damien Bowen, underscored that the mission of his organisation was to aid its Regional clients and protect them against challenges, in this case, climate threats.
The Caribbean insurance product for the agriculture sector was designed by Lynch Caribbean Brokers in collaboration with GuyCarpenter, Raincoat. The product will be driven by the private sector.
REAP, according to him, will also protect and propel vision ‘25 by 2025’ against climate change.
But who is REAP targeting?

Bowen said that the targeted beneficiaries are the fisher folks and farmers, including livestock farmers.
Using advanced technology, REAP will provide multi-faceted solutions which will cover its clients against drought, pest, wind and fishery interruption.
Further, St Lucia’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development, Alfred Prospere, noted that REAP’s launch was a pivotal step for the Region.
He said that it will enhance the sustainability of the sector.
Prospere asserted that the Region has borne the full impact of climate change and variability, exemplified by the persistent occurrence of tropical storms, heavy rainfall, and hurricanes. Prospere further emphasised that farmers face heightened vulnerability due to direct exposure.

CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Joseph Cox, had echoed similar sentiments during his remarks.
As he stressed how CARICOM member-states remain “highly-exposed” to the effects of climate change, he did not ignore the lesson that Hurricane Beryl taught the Caribbean Region.
According to Cox, that natural disaster showed how important it was to have recovery and resilience plans.
He said that agriculture insurance is essential in safeguarding farmers’ livelihoods as the Caribbean faces more frequent and severe weather related events.
Cox stated that the collective commitment of CARICOM member-states to sustainable development and resilience in the face of environmental challenges was exemplified by REAP’s launch.