BARBADOS-Barbados signs letter of understanding with WFP

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC—Barbados has signed a Letter of Understanding (LoU) with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to improve the region’s food security and nutrition by 2030.

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kerrie Symmonds signed the LoU with the WFP’s Caribbean Country Director, Brian Bogart.

In February 2022, the WFP approved the US$69.5 million Caribbean Multi-Country Strategic Plan for 2022-2026 (MCSP 2022-2026), which aims to improve the region’s food security and nutrition by 2030. The plan correlates directly to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. Zero Hunger reinforces SDG 17 on Partnerships and will positively impact SDGs 1, 5, 10, and 13.

Symmonds said that the assistance provided would help Barbados, and by extension, the Caribbean region, in its efforts towards CARICOM’s 25 by 2025 initiative. This initiative seeks to reduce the region’s rising food import bill, improve intra-regional trade, and create wealth and economic opportunities for the Caribbean Community’s members.

“We can do a lot in terms of making sure we have appropriate balance and payments if we can substitute and move away from the reliance on imports that allows us to build out a more substantial regional capacity, which is the effort being driven under the 25 by 2025 initiative…

“I think it is a most wonderful and generous contribution to our effort that we can now get US$69.5 million to support this region’s efforts in that direction.

“So again, partnership with the World Food Programme, regarding security and sustainability, is fundamental to our developmental effort. So, I just wanted to say thank you,” Symmonds stated.

Bogart noted that through MCSP 2022-2026, the WFP will continue to leverage its expertise and experience to provide technical assistance and capacity strengthening to national governments and regional institutions, to improve the resilience of national and regional food systems to ensure food and nutrition security; predict, assess, plan, and finance the impact of shocks with a focus on end-to-end supply chain management and emergency telecommunications.

In addition, through the MCSP 2022-2026, the WFP will assist the region in better responding to shocks through existing social protection systems and programs and contribute to climate change adaptation and risk financing mechanisms, mainly through links to social protection.