His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali urged CARICOM member states on Friday to be aggressive in their suggestions, programmes and plans in addressing food security issues within the Region.
The Head of State made this passionate statement during his address at CARICOM’s Regional Food Systems virtual dialogue. The event is a precursor to the United Nations 2021 Food Systems Summit slated for September, as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
“We cannot continue to eat third quality or second quality food when we can produce first quality food. We have to be brave; we have to be brave in addressing these issues. We can’t walk along the sidelines anymore. We have to confront these issues as a region. And importantly, we all have to commit to doing our bit in relation to climate change. But more importantly, we are perhaps the region that is affected in a worse way in terms of climate-related disasters, and if we assess international financing that comes our way it leaves much to be desired.”
Food security, climate resilience, and financing were the primary areas of focus when stakeholders from across the Region met at the summit. President Ali is the lead Head-of-Government in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet with responsibility for Agriculture.
The President acknowledged that all three thematic areas covered are critical to ensuring that the Region’s commitment to the SDGs is not undone.
<<<Ensuring food security>>>
He added that given the Region’s high food import bill, estimated at more than US$4B per annum, the Caribbean’s high dependence on food imports leaves it vulnerable to external shocks caused by sudden spikes in food commodity prices, as is the current situation. As such, he emphasised that the Caribbean must aim at becoming more food secure.
“This exercise must be sustained and must involve increased production of foods consumed within the Region. It must also entail increased intra-regional trade in agricultural commodities. The dismantling of barriers to the trade in agricultural commodities will enhance regional food security. If the Region is to become more food secure, it has to begin to source more of its food needs from within the Caribbean, and this will require the removal of unnecessary non-tariff barriers to intra-regional trade.”
The President said that the Region is not short of solutions for improving food security with a wealth of information readily available through proposals, reports, studies and regional strategies.
“The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), for example, has said that if the Caribbean is to achieve the goal of zero-hunger, the Region’s food-supply chain has to be redesigned to include food security as well as water and energy, given that agriculture is highly dependent on both water and energy.
“IICA also correctly pointed to the need for a shift to greater agricultural value-added production. The Jagdeo Initiative had identified ten key binding constraints to the development of regional agriculture. The solution exists. What is required is the political will and the financing to give effect to what needs to be done to develop the Region’s food systems. I believe that the time has come, and the time is ripe for us to do so.”
<<<Challenges>>>
President Ali added that the Caribbean Region faces many challenges in developing a competitive agri-food system that can contribute to the achievement of its food security and economic goals including the Region’s vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change – rising sea levels, extreme weather events and other natural disasters.
“As I speak to you, my country, along with Suriname, is battling floods. In parts of the country, many of the agricultural lands are underwater. A number of our regions have been subject to torrential rainfall, which has resulted in flooding, which in turn, has led to losses of crops and livestock. Suriname is also been affected similarly.”
It is therefore imperative, he stressed, that attention be given to building climate resilience in order to transform the Region’s agri-food system.
Importantly, the President said that progress towards achieving the SDGs requires a commitment from all member states to affirmative action in respect to climate change.
