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Region mulls action plan to reduce huge food import bill
– experts in Guyana for two-day meeting
Local and international experts are expected to mull a draft plan today in Guyana that will pave the way for the region to become less dependent on food imports.
According to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) yesterday, the body is forging ahead with developing a food and nutrition security policy that will outline guidelines and strategies to secure higher food production; better health and nutrition; income and employment opportunities; and poverty alleviation, among other things.
Regional and international experts are meeting in Guyana today to review a plan to enhance food security in the region.
A workshop co-ordinated by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, with assistance from the Government of Italy and the European Union, will be held from today at Princess Hotel, Providence, to review a draft Regional Policy for Food and Nutrition Security.
The meeting titled, “Workshop for the Validation of the Regional Policy for Food and Nutrition Security in the Caribbean”, is expected to end tomorrow.
According to a release from CARICOM yesterday, specialists in the field of agriculture, trade, health, nutrition, and representatives of regional institutions including Caribbean Agricultural Research Development Institute (CARDI) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), and international partners in development will determine whether the draft policy takes into consideration all the components to be included in a regional framework for food and nutrition security.
They will consider the adequacy of measures in the draft policy to address the constraints to food and nutrition security. In addition, the stakeholders will review a plan of action for the implementation of the policy which outlines roles and functions of key stakeholders including government, sub-regional bodies, civil society, and farmers.
The validation workshop forms part of the second phase of the FAO Food Security Policy project aimed at improving food security in CARICOM/CARIFORUM states through the strengthening of the food policy environment and the support of services to promote efficient and sustainable food systems.
The first phase of the project titled Caribbean Regional Food Security Project was funded by the Government of Italy (US$4.9 Million). Its objective was to improve the food security in CARICOM/CARIFORUM states by increasing the availability and access to adequate quantities of safe, quality assured food products to vulnerable groups and poor rural communities. This phase is also being funded by the Italian Government, at a cost of US$4.07 Million.
According to CARICOM, the project synchronises with the goals of the Jagdeo Initiative on agriculture and the Community Agricultural Policy outlined in Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
It is also in harmony with a renewed focus on agriculture in the Caribbean Community which was given added impetus in February 2007, when CARICOM Heads of Government at their Eighteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting identified food security as a critical component of the Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture.
The Heads of Government had then mandated the CARICOM Secretariat to oversee the development of the regional the food and nutrition security framework.
In response to that mandate, the CARICOM Secretariat employed a participatory and multi-sectoral approach in the development of the Regional Policy for Food and Nutrition Security. The participatory approach saw collaboration among regional organisations and international partners in development including the FAO and the Inter-American Institution for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA).
It is anticipated that the draft policy will be presented for the consideration of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) when it meets in October.
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