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PM: Cutting food import bill will happen gradually

by Barbados Today
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The process of slashing the region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025 and consumers seeing the impact of that reduction will be gradual, says Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the efforts by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders to accomplish the goal, she said it would take time to bring regional agricultural production up to scale.

Mottley made the comments on Tuesday in response to a question posed by Barbados TODAY following a press conference held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre during the Eighth CARICOM-Cuba Summit underway here.

The Prime Minister said the 25 by 2025 Initiative would see a price dip in regionally produced fruit and vegetables and then in regionally produced agro-products and meats.

“We’re trying to do it over a period of time. You’ll see some reductions in terms of those vegetables and fruits that we would not otherwise be able to get here and that’s where we’re trying to open up production in our imports from Guyana, imports from northern Brazil [and so on]; that’s a work in progress now,” she said.

“But the deeper issues, for example, in terms of being able to reduce the price of corn and the price of inputs for poultry production and pork production will require us taking a longer approach. The reason why? It takes [a] long [time] to be able to bring that scale of production on and it’s not going to happen overnight. Guyana, for example, set itself the goal that by 2025 it will have enough corn and soy production to be able to deal with all of its own domestic needs for livestock rearing, but also to be able to contribute to the region’s needs.

“In our case, you’ve heard us talk about the Barbados-Guyana Food Terminal. We are at the stage now where the business plans are being reviewed and, therefore, we expect in 2023 to be able to see that construction start and that be able to help facilitate,” Mottley added.

She said the enhanced trade arrangement would result in lower food prices for Barbadians.

“Why is it important? Because we also need the equipment in order to have the level of agro-processing, and you saw what we did with the International Food Centre opening last week. So that Barbadians are not only forced to access products imported based on our small population, but by reason of our being able to get involved in agro-processing we are in a position to ensure that more is available to the country and, therefore, the prices can drop in a way that is sensible and realistic,” the Prime Minister said.

She reiterated that the increase in agricultural production would occur in stages.

“This is a work in progress and you’ve got to remember that most countries did not have the structure for production to meet the national need. It’s ironic that we’re talking about this because 25 by 25 actually started in this building . . . in September-October 2018 when Barbados put it on the table in a regional Agriculture Ministers meeting….

“It was ultimately taken up in 2021. We lost three years before it was taken up. So this is going to be a work in progress going forward and you might even argue that 25 per cent reduction is not going to be sufficient, given where the world is now with respect to all of the other challenges that are compromising people’s ability to get access to food,” said Mottley.

During the press conference, President of Suriname and CARICOM Chairman Chandrikapersad Santokhi said Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who leads the regional body’s quasi-Cabinet with responsibility for Agriculture, Food Security and Agricultural Diversification, had suggested a number of strategies in pursuit of the 25 by 25 initiative, and they had been approved by the Heads of Government.

Santokhi said the current summit, which ends on Wednesday, was also about introducing and inducting Cuba into the initiative, to which

Cuban President Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel agreed.

Díaz-Canel said the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation had experiences in the agricultural sector it could share to build out the region’s food sovereignty.

He said Cuba had a national agriculture policy in place and it was backed by legislation.

President Díaz-Canel added that Cuba had developed technologies for the purpose of boosting food production, noting that due to the United States’ blockade it could not import the necessary food production inputs and had to rely on its own concepts of agroecology.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb

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