CARICOM nations set to reduce agri-food imports in new Partnership

The CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) has entered into a partnership with an international crop research agency specialising in dryland farming in a bid to reduce extra-regional agri-food imports.

The CPSO signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Wednesday with the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), sealing a commitment to bolstering food security within CARICOM.

During the virtual signing ceremony, CPSO’s chief executive officer and technical director, Dr Patrick Antoine, stressed the importance of this agreement in advancing CARICOM’s food security agenda.

“The signing of this MOU is part of the actions that the CPSO has been undertaking quietly, but the manifestations of which on occasions like this one today reveals themselves to the full glare of our community and the world which demonstrates our commitment to short and media term actions of reducing food imports, and addressing the burning issue of food security in our Caribbean Community,” he said.

“These activities will optimise the opportunities for subsequent initiatives along the prospective value chains and to substantially yield the benefits of the resources that we have in CARICOM, and that we are proud to share and join forces with the human resource and technical capacity of our colleagues at ICRISA.”

One of the key initiatives under the new MOU will see the introduction and testing of select sorghum varieties for use as raw materials in livestock feed. This pilot project will initially take place in Jamaica, with interest already expressed by stakeholders in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Smaller CARICOM nations, including those in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), have also shown interest in the initiative.

Dr Stanford Blade, interim director general and deputy director general for research at ICRISAT, reiterated the organisation’s dedication to strengthening agricultural resilience in the region.

“We are very hopeful that this initiative will lead to the strengthening of crop improvement programmes, particularly in other climate resilient and other nutritious crops, to enhance regional food production through CARICOM member states,” he said.

(SB)