EU financing food security in CARIFORUM countries

Mar 17, 2013 News

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The importance of food security in the Caribbean was again brought to fore on Friday with the European Union (EU) dedicating 8.6 million Euros to aid the development of agriculture at small and medium levels in the CARIFORUM countries.
The Intra ACP Agriculture Policy Project aims at increasing the capability of Regional Agricultural Development Organizations within the Caribbean in order to address the development needs of smallholders.
It will be implemented over the next 45 months by Inter American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) in collaboration with CARICOM Secretariat and Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI), that will be major actors responsible for technical guidance and implementation.
This project will see improvements in the policy regimes and incentive schemes for smallholders; enhanced food security at regional, national and local levels; and increased capacity of regional agricultural institutions.
According to Head of Delegation, Ambassador Robert Kopecky, cognizant of the challenges faced by the Caribbean Region such as climate change and natural disasters the promotion and development of smallholder agriculture will allow for closer integration into local, national, regional, and where appropriate, global markets.
“This, we expect, will result in diversified production and sustainable food security, which will reduce the strain on consumers caused by the soaring food prices and assist agricultural exporters in dealing with the challenges posed by the international health standards,” he said.
Kopecky said that IICA was selected as the implementation agency on behalf of the CARIFORUM countries because of its involvement in agriculture at the technical and community levels.
He added, “…On an institutional assessment, we are assured that IICA’s rules and procedures allow the EU to confidently disburse (or transfer) the funds, knowing that it will be well managed.”
Kopecky said that given the state of the economies of both EU and CARIFORUM countries it cannot be business as usual. Both EU taxpayers and CARIFORUM citizens are owed the best from this initiative, he added.
According to IICA’s Representative in Trinidad and Tobago and Co-ordinator of Regional Integration for the Caribbean Region, Gregg Rawlins, this contribution agreement is designed specifically to address the developmental needs of the numerous small farmers, small processors and other small agri-preneurs in CARIFORUM countries.
He noted that the programme recognizes the need to strengthen the institutional environment that supports the agriculture development process. It adds value at the regional level through actions aimed at enhancing capacity to implement regional initiatives.
Rawlins said that the greatest expectations of this programme will be found amongst the target beneficiaries- small producers- who, as a result of this initiative will expect to be placed in a more favourable position to improve productivity and profitability status of their agricultural enterprises.
According to Irwin LaRocque, Secretary General of CARICOM Secretariat, this agreement establishes the fundamental legal, technical, financial and project implementation principles that will guide the relationship between the Project’s principal implementing agency, IICA and the European Commission.
“This programme exemplifies the strength of the partnership between IICA and the CARICOM/CARIFORUM Secretariat as IICA implements this activity on behalf of CARIFORUM. It also reflects the continued commitment of the European Union to the on-going development of our Region,” he added.
LaRocque stated, that CARIFORUM, in its capacity as the ultimate Beneficiary of the Programme, has signed with IICA, a Memorandum of Understanding which will complement efforts aimed at getting the best results out of this Programme.
The MOU sets out the conditions under which IICA has agreed to implement the programme on our behalf.
The content of the Programme has also been informed by the agriculture sector development issues of CARICOM’s Liliendaal Declaration and the Jagdeo Initiative on the nine Key Binding Constraints to agricultural development, as well as the key objectives of the sector as outlined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
It is also important to note that there is a specific bias to women and youth as these groups have been identified as important to the sustainability of the sector, he said.
Emphasizing the importance of this timely agreement, President Donald Ramotar said that food has become a very important subject and experts believe that it could be the cause of future problems.
He pointed out that agriculture is of growing importance today taking into consideration competition from other sectors for land and biofuel.
The Caribbean has great capacity for agriculture but it remains underutilized. As such, the food bill in the Caribbean is US$4B. This amount could reduce and direct and indirect jobs could be created if agriculture comes to fore.
The CARIFORUM countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.

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