SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (CMC) — Caribbean agriculture ministers have discussed new challenges facing the sector as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
A statement from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) said that the virtual meeting brought together ministers from 14 countries discussing the “dramatic consequences” of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, new challenges in strengthening food production while emphasising support for IICA.
It said the virtual 2020 Regional Accountability Seminar gave an overview of the hemispheric organisation’s actions to support the Caribbean productive sector and that announcements were also made about new initiatives.
“Food systems faced immense challenges in 2020. During this period IICA assisted us to improve productivity in agriculture and to boost climate change mitigation capacities,” said Zulfikar Mustapha, Guyana’s minister of agriculture.
“For example, in our country, the Institute provided support through a biofortified rice project, which is extremely important for Guyana’s food security.”
His St Vincent and the Grenadines counterpart, Saboto Caesar, praised the IICA Director General, Manuel Otero “for his excellent leadership during and before the pandemic”.
“He is working diligently with his team to benefit agriculture in the region. We have been experiencing volcanic eruptions and will conduct a simulation exercise in the sector to prepare us to face the worst, save lives and protect the assets of farmers.
“We share the same vision with respect to providing opportunities to improve livelihoods in the region. I am anxious to see how we can build more synergies among countries, with the assistance of IICA.”
“Moreover, I hope that we do not adopt an individualistic approach, but instead discuss synergies that will allow us all to advance, as a region. The lines of communication between the States and IICA should remain open. The doors of IICA have always been open to support our regional efforts,” Caesar said.
In his address, Otero spoke of the commitments of the hemispheric organisation with respect to the countries of the Caribbean, vowing to continue supporting the advancement of the local rural sector. He mentioned aspects such as maintaining the infrastructure of the fourteen offices, providing adequate human and financial resources to implement the strategies deployed in the Caribbean, including a special fund to support the region.
“We are going to continue supporting proposals and securing external funding to address agricultural and rural development issues, serving as a bridge and facilitator for horizontal, South-South and Triangular cooperation, while capitalising on the complementarities among different regions”, said Otero, stressing the importance of supporting the post-COVID-19 renewal and positioning of the agriculture and rural sectors of the Caribbean.
Otero also spoke of the importance of support to the region, within the framework of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), through an agricultural advisory mechanism, which will capitalise on IICA’s experience in serving as the Secretariat for ministerial forums in Central and South America.
He said this will foster and support regional integration, as well as provide continuity for South-South cooperation programs, such as Apicaribe, which is driving the development of the beekeeping industry.
