By Sheria Brathwaite
Suriname is well on its way to becoming a food hub for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as the region aims to slash its food import bill by one-quarter in two years – and Barbados is set to become a major recipient of Surinamese produce.
Speaking during a ceremony after the inaugural flight of Surinam Airways to Barbados on Wednesday, Suriname’s Minister of Agriculture Parmanand Sewdien said his country was on track to meet its required targets.
Through Surinam Airways’ flights from Paramaribo, Barbados is to receive 10 000 kilogrammes of farm produce each week, he said.
“We know food security is an issue in the Caribbean, and all the heads of state agreed amongst themselves to reduce our import bill of food by 25 per cent in two years’ time,” said Sewdien, noting Food and Agriculture Organisation figures that put the number of people worldwide who are suffering from hunger at 800 million.
“Three countries in the Caribbean – Belize, Guyana and Suriname – have the opportunity to be the bread basket for the Caribbean and we are working on it.”
Acknowledging the initial challenges the initiative faced, Sewdien explained: “We went around and had meetings with the farmers…. We had to figure out all the phytosanitary regulations, and it took us about 15 months to go through the entire procedure of the pest risks and assessment.
“And finally, about two months ago, we got the approval from Barbados for 12 products which we can start to export. And we are doing all the preparation work right now to train farmers.”
Suriname’s state-owned carrier also played a role in solving the major issue of logistics, the farm minister said: “Surinam Airways came right on time [to facilitate the exports].”
In the past few months, Suriname has increased its shipment of bananas to Barbados to meet shortages of some fruits and vegetables, according to Sewdien.
The shipment has increased from one container to two containers of bananas, he said, adding that the Dutch-speaking CARICOM nation would continue shipping more produce to the island by sea such as passion fruit, dragon fruit, watermelon, pumpkin, ginger and lemons.
A contingent from Suriname would be visiting Barbados for Agrofest 2024 with a variety of products to showcase, he announced.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
