GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – A new initiative aimed at lessening the Caribbean region’s poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition has been launched here,
The United States Agency for Development (USAID), in partnership with Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC), formally launched the regional agricultural program, Caribbean Agricultural Productivity Improvement Activity (CAPA) that they say will spark investments to increase efficiency and reliability in growing and accessing food so that farmers can better nourish families, communities, and regional countries.
The three-year US$5.3 million project will focus on supporting farmers in increasing the production of fruit and vegetables and building connections between consumers. It will also input suppliers and help improve farm-level extension systems.
Additionally, the project will utilize an integrated value chain approach to support value addition and practical storage solutions to preserve shelf life while easing the implementation of on-farm technology like climate-smart practices and shade shelters to boost yields.
Speaking at the launch held at the University of Guyana, US Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot, said that the CAPA program is an essential milestone in US-Caribbean relations in addressing food insecurity regionally.
She said Washington is supporting its regional partners to address the unique and evolving climate, energy, food security, and capacity challenges facing Caribbean nations.
The US diplomat said that CAPA grew out of the Ninth Summit of America and is a swift response from the United States. It is a significant pillar of PACC2030, the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030.
She said CAPA would address the region’s food insecurity challenges, exacerbated by the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war, the ongoing climate crisis, rising food prices, and the disruption to supply chains.
Ambassador Theriot affirmed the significance of CAPA in supporting improved smallholder access to markets and integration into value chains, as well as providing agritech and climate-smart technology opportunities with small and medium agribusinesses and farmers.
CAPA will be rolled out in Dominica, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. It will also provide virtual capacity-building and knowledge-sharing events for Eastern and Southern Caribbean stakeholders.
Guyana’s Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, noted that heavy investments have been pumped into the agriculture sector to advance food productivity. CAPA fits into the collective regional food security policies and aggressive food security agenda to achieve the ambitious 25 by 2025 goal.
“I am particularly encouraged by the intention of this project… All of the far-reaching benefits this project promises can be divorced from other related regional goals, such as reducing our food import bill by 25 percent by 2025. All of the commodities that are being targeted in this project are identified as priority commodities in some form under the 25 by 2025 program,” Mustapha stated.
In Guyana, he said hundreds of young people also benefit from the Agriculture Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme (AIEP).
USAID Regional Representative Mervyn Farroe said his organization “is committed to supporting the Caribbean in unlocking the full potential of its agricultural sector,” reiterating that CAPA is one of several initiatives supported by USAID, another being the Farmer-to-Farmer program.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett, stressed the importance of the project reaching the intended beneficiaries to improve food security while creating wealth and economic development for the region.
She referred to several initiatives spearheaded by CARICOM, including the highly successful Caribbean Week of Agriculture, the approval of several long-standing policies by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to enable more significant intra-regional trade and the upcoming CARICOM Development Partners Meeting on Food Security.
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