–          despite region’s goal being affected by recent hurricane
–          region still working on dismantling trade barriers

President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that Guyana is ahead of the regional food security goal of reducing the food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025, despite the Caribbean region’s goal being affected by the recent hurricane.
The Head of State made these remarks during the second edition of his “In the Seat” show, during which he answered questions from five women journalists on pressing issues.
When asked about the food security goal for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which Guyana is spearheading, President Ali noted that there have been some disruptions in this regard due to natural disasters however, Guyana remains on track.

President Ali said, “Fortunately for us, although we went through two major floods, we are way ahead of the plan.”
With this, he added that by next year, Guyana will be fully self-sufficient in corn and soya and further in black eye and red beans to the extent that there will be an exportation of the same.
“And by the end of 2026, we will be exporting corn and soya out of the region,” he said.

Against this backdrop, he noted that with the integration of Northern Brazil into the regional food hub, there is an opportunity to bring down the cost of food in the region, as imported inflation is having a tremendous effect on many countries in the region.
However, turning to CARICOM’s thrust towards the 25 by 2025 goal, he said that every Prime Minister from every country in the region has embraced the strategy with full determination and has gone above and beyond.
These countries, he said, have made financial resources available and have been investing heavily towards achieving the target.

To this end, he noted that the recent damage done to several islands by Hurricane Beryl and other tropical storms has impacted the 25 by 2025 plans.
Giving an example, President Ali said that this has impacted spice cultivation, and banana cultivation and even caused the loss of assets for fisherfolks.

Meanwhile, as progress has been made in the region, the Head of State noted that he is somewhat disappointed at the pace at which some of the countries are moving in the removal of barriers and further some other Heads of State have also expressed disappointment.
While this is so, he noted that there have been some moves forward, “But we have had successes too… our milk is now in Barbados… I know we are working now to have our ice cream in different countries.”

Dr Ali said that there have still been some major challenges with Trinidad and added that most of it is linked to the bureaucratic layers and archaic laws that must be addressed.
These issues, he said, were raised with Trinidad’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley and with other regional leaders and he added that Rowley too expressed a desire to find a way forward.
Vision 25 by 2025 was officially implemented in 2021 and laid the groundwork for long-term social and economic partnerships among member states, private sector, regional organisations, development partners and civil society to invest in initiatives to address the region’s rising food import bill and further improve intra-regional trade.