Region should become more self sufficient – Ramotor urges Caricom heads

President Donald Ramotar told the opening of the Caricom Summit that amid volatile food prices, it was time the region gives more impetus to the “Jagdeo Initiative”. Proposed several years ago by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, the “Jagdeo Initiative”, identifies and defines the key constraints facing agricultural development in the Caribbean region.
It aims to make the sector about more than the production of food by exploring the numerous opportunities that exist for agro-businesses which will create more employment, and increase export earnings and the income of all stakeholders, especially farmers. The “Jagdeo Initiative” identifies and defines key, crucial and binding constraints to agricultural repositioning in the Caribbean region and aims to develop and implement targeted, focused and practical interventions at both the regional and national levels to overcome the constraints.
Ramotar in his maiden speech to the regional heads, said as leaders of the region, “We have to also look ahead and anticipate other global issues that are bound to impact on us. One of these relates to food security.”  He added that already the region is seeing the volatility of food prices throughout the world. “It should be noted that many economically strong countries are moving into lesser developed states and buying large tracts of land in response to their own food security challenges.”
According to him, the Caricom region is diverse. “It has many varied products and much under-developed potentials. We know that our food import bill is huge, even though we have most of the resources to guarantee our own food supply.

“The more than three billion dollars that leave our region every year could be put to productive use within our region to improve our peoples’ lives. It is therefore an indictment of our entire region that we are still to make a significant dent in our food import bill. We have to become more self-sufficient.” This can be achieved, he said if more impetus is given to the regional agricultural transformation programme which, through the “Jagdeo Initiative” would encourage production and productivity, strengthen competitiveness and secure better market access.
“I am encouraged that the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency has been established and I urge the support of member states to ensure that the agency becomes fully functional as soon as possible. As the lead head for agriculture, I will be initiating discussions on the priority actions in the agricultural sector with key regional stakeholders. Across our region, we must invest more in food production.”
Ramotar told his colleagues’ heads of government that just as they need to make greater progress in advancing the regional programme on agriculture, in the same manner they should accelerate momentum in regional institutions and other regional initiatives.
“Since the meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Grand Anse, Grenada in 1989, heads of government have constantly been re-committing to hassle-free movement of people in order to promote a greater sense of community. I regret to say however, that implementation has been lagging for the most part.”
He added: “My firm belief is that advancing the regional integration enterprise in all of its dimensions does not collide with our individual national interests. In fact, without regional integration, our individual national survival can by no means be assured. Indeed, it is this recognition that inspired the birth of this movement almost 40 years ago. This conviction must once again permeate thinking at all levels of society – political leadership, private sector, organised labour and the population at large. With greater political will and purpose, we can make this happen. If we are to survive and prosper, we must make this happen.”