The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it remains “deeply committed” to food and nutrition security in the region as it launched the call for proposals of the European Union-CDB Regional Food Security Programme.
CDB’s acting director of projects, L O’Reilly Lewis, speaking at the launch of the initiative that formed part of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) that ends later on Friday in St Vincent, noted that food and nutrition security are vital pillars for the agricultural sector and are key to maintaining the health and well-being of communities, particularly among the most vulnerable.
“The Caribbean Development Bank is deeply committed to this objective, and we are excited to continue working with our private sector, development, and finance partners to foster sustainable economic growth through food security,” Lewis said.
As part of the EU’s global response to the food crisis, in July 2022, it mobilised EUR 600 million (One Euro=US$1.29 cents) to strengthen food security and develop sustainable and resilient food systems across the African Caribbean and Pacific countries, with EUR 36.5 million allocated exclusively for the Caribbean.
The EU-Caribbean Regional Food Security Programme, which ends in 2027, aims to enhance food system resilience, focusing on improving the livelihoods and food security of vulnerable populations.
The programme will invest EUR 19 million, implemented through key regional partners namely the CDB, International Trade Centre, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, and EU member state agencies (FIIAPP and CPVA).
The programme’s general objective is to enhance the sustainability and resilience of food systems in the Caribbean, promoting food and nutrition security, particularly for vulnerable groups.
Specific goals include improving food production systems with a focus on gender sensitivity, enhancing food processing and distribution, expanding social protection systems for agricultural actors, and ensuring equitable access to nutritious diets across the region.
The CDB says it has been actively working with regional and international agencies to assist with the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) 25 by 2025 initiative which seeks to reduce the region’s rising food import bill, improve intra-regional trade, and create wealth and economic opportunities for the 15-member grouping.
The recent pandemic and climatic events have impacted agricultural productivity with the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July contributing to deepening social inequalities with Grenada, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines suffering massive losses.
In St Vincent and the Grenadines, the banana and plantain industries suffered losses of up to 98 per cent, while Jamaica’s agriculture sector incurred US$15.9 million in damages, affecting over 45,000 farmers.
Grenada saw 98 per cent of its infrastructure on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique destroyed. These events have slowed progress towards the regional shared goal of reducing food imports by 25 per cent by 2025.
The new food security programme will, through a series of projects ranging between EURO 400,00 – 570,000 for national projects and up to 670,000 will support agri-MSMEs and producers by providing access to finance, fostering innovation, and improving distribution systems to enhance competitiveness and resilience.
The Team Leader Regional Cooperation and Trade Support at the EU Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Felipe de La Mota says the project forms part of a larger envelope of funds to augment regional efforts by CARICOM and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to clear bottlenecks related to food security.
The EU’s global gateway has allocated EUR 19 million to the Caribbean for food production and resilience initiatives.
“We are working together with our implementing partners and stakeholder colleagues, other institutions and governments… who know the region… to identify those sectors and bottle necks that we can help unlock.”
Lewis said addressing food security at a regional level is crucial, as no single member state can solve these issues alone, particularly smaller islands with limited resources.
“Through CARICOM’s unified market and congruent national and regional policy implementation, we can ensure that food production, supply, and consumption are sustainable and that we move closer to food sovereignty,” he said encouraging stakeholders to work together to ensure no country is left behind.
The Manager Agricultural Health, Food Safety and Quality Programme at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Dr José Urdaz, spoke of the impact of global volatility on food and nutrition security.
Urdaz said the IICA will continue to partner with organisations to improve Caribbean food security focusing on ensuring that food traded is safe, adding this can be accommodated through strategic initiatives to reduce non-technical trade barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and by implementing capacity building.
“IICA will work with programme partners to improve food processing capabilities to increase regional distribution of agricultural and fisheries products.”
