PetroCaribe countries to pool resources for food security

Aug 05, 2008 News

Delegates representing the PetroCaribe countries have agreed to promote national public investments and cooperation alliances among the member countries in the areas of agricultural knowledge and science and technology.

Emphasis will be placed on crop and cattle systems, fishing industries, development of areas affected by recurrent drought, with the development of ecological systems and the impact brought about by climate change.

“This implies reorienting the priorities toward strengthening the research with the intention of obtaining greater environmental and social sustainability, without corn promising the productivity.”
The decision was taken at the conclusion of the meeting hosted in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on July 30.
Guyana was represented by Cecil Persaud, Head of the local Agricultural Project Cycle Unit
The Ministers and Secretariats of Agriculture gathered in Honduras for what was the first Ministry meeting in the framework of the PetroCaribe member countries, in compliance to the mandates of the HEADS of State and Governments in their meeting in Maracaibo, Venezuela on July 13, 2008 to discuss agro food initiatives.
The meeting also resolved to ratify that PetroCaribe, in accordance to the principles of the Alternativa Bolivariana par los Pueblos de Nuestra America (ALBA), seeks to reach a higher degree of independence and social and economic development for the people, through the creation of financial instruments that seek the development of the agricultural sector and integral rural development that will guarantee the food security and sovereignty of our countries.
Another resolution of the meeting was the consolidation of the Fondo Petrolero for food production as part of the initiative from ALBA to create compensatory funding to correct the disparities that put countries with weak economies at a disadvantage.
The fund will be oriented toward funding food production and innovative farming projects to face the food crisis caused by speculation and protection measures, like the subsidies from the developed countries, the use of food as a raw material for fuel, and the high cost of essential agricultural inputs to propel integral rural development, sustainable food production, and its distribution and exchange under principles of solidarity complementarities, cooperation, social justice, reciprocity and equity.

The development of a bank of inputs and a support services network for agriculture and the rural area, with the distribution capacity to especially address the more vulnerable populations, stressing the farming and indigenous communities among others was also identified as priority areas of the new ALBA agricultural agenda PetroCaribe countries are made up of states that have signed on to the Caribbean oil alliance with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment. The alliance was launched in June of 2005.

The payment system allows for a few nations to buy oil at market value, but only a certain amount is needed up front; the remainder can be paid through a 25-year financing agreement on one per cent interest.

The deal allows for the Caribbean nations to purchase up to 185,000 barrels of oil per day on these terms. In addition it allows for nations to pay part of the cost with other products provided to Venezuela, such as bananas, rice, and sugar.

Twelve of the fifteen members of CARICOM, plus Cuba and the Dominican Republic, signed the agreement on September 7.

The nations signing the agreement were Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, the Domini

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PetroCaribe countries to pool resources for food security

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