WASHINGTON, CMC – Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has underscored the urgency of the Caribbean region becoming food secure while highlighting the need for measures to be implemented to achieve the set targets.
Delivering a virtual address to the Caribbean Association for World Bank and IMF Staff (CAWI), Caribbean Leader’s Open Dialogue, Ali spoke about the catastrophic implications of non-action or limited action regarding food security within the Caribbean.
Ali, who has lead responsibility for Agriculture in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Quasi Cabinet, called for increased production and productivity and reminded us that climate-resilient agriculture is necessary for sustainability.
“In all of this, we have to find infrastructure financing for infrastructure… in an environment in which we are already saddled with the heavy debt burden, the cost of climate adaptation, and the high funding fee globally.
“If we are to achieve the 25 by 2025 target in a very conservative way, the investment from the public and private sector needed will be about US$7.5 billion,” Ali said, urging partners like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bolster their support for the region.
The ‘25 by 2025’ initiative entails lowering the region’s larger food-import bill by 25 percent by 2025.
But Ali warned that the region would not achieve its targets if the governments did not undertake a seismic shift and issues such as transportation and financing was not addressed.
Ali said that there are sufficient studies on the region to inform decisions made by financial institutions such as the World Bank to take action and work alongside Caribbean nations to eliminate food insecurity.
“We took a full analysis of every single country, looked at the competitive environment in every country, and sought to identify low-hanging fruits, medium-term, and long-term strategies.”
He said this is to eliminate hunger and refocus food production and agriculture as severe economic activities while dealing with different obstacles and constraints that impact the sector.
If you look at recent headlines on food security in the region, it’s a telling story. We need to know that we are taking action if we don’t take action now. If we don’t make the necessary adjustments in our budgetary allocation for agriculture and food production and prioritize agriculture, we will face a catastrophe in the region.”
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