‘Real work starts’

WESTERN BUREAU

Caribbean countries are being urged to dismantle standards barriers that continue to stifle the movement of agricultural and fisheries products across regional borders, as governments push to deepen intra-regional trade and cut dependence on food imports.

Jamaica’s Agriculture Minister Floyd Green has identified the harmonisation of standards as one of the major unresolved issues facing the Caribbean’s push to transform its food system.

“We still have to treat with our standards and the harmonisation of our standards across the region, so that our products, our agricultural produce, our fisheries ... can move seamlessly across our borders,” he said.

Green’s comment came during a press conference as regional agriculture ministers met under the Caribbean Community’s Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to examine measures to strengthen agricultural trade and integration on Friday in Trelawny.

The standards challenge takes on added significance as Caribbean governments pursue a regional target of reducing the extra-regional food import bill by 25 per cent by 2030.

While the region is seeking to increase agricultural production, Green said greater output alone will not be enough if products cannot move efficiently between Caribbean markets.

He placed the standards issue alongside maritime logistics and labour as three areas requiring urgent regional attention.

“We still have to treat with the matter of maritime logistics again to ensure that we have the connection needed to move our products across,” he said, noting that the region needs to address workforce shortages affecting agriculture, pointing to a model being used by Dominica that could potentially help other Caribbean countries.

The interconnected challenges have become increasingly important as governments seek to build stronger regional food supply chains and make greater use of food produced within the Caribbean.

Green said the discussions at the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) had produced several commitments, but insisted that the region must now shift from discussion to execution.

“When we finish CWA, the real work starts,” he said, warning that the annual regional agriculture gathering would have little value if its discussions did not translate into improvements for farmers and fishers.

“We must ensure that CWA is tracking the commitments that we have made, and that when we come back to CWA, we are not discussing the same things over and over, but that we’re moving forward and building upon the foundation that has been set,” he said.

Green said the ultimate test would be whether farmers and fishers benefit from better support, higher productivity and more dependable markets, while consumers gain access to a more reliable regional food supply.

He also highlighted the need for greater investment across the agricultural value chain, including production, processing, storage and distribution.

CWA 20 attracted about 1,200 participants from more than 40 countries, including more than 10 government ministers, with more than 70 technical sessions held during the week of September 27-October 2 at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com