PRESS RELEASE
His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, in his capacity as Lead Head of Government in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet with responsibility for Agriculture, Food Security and Agricultural Diversification, met with Ministers of Agriculture on 4 February 2022 via videoconference under the aegis of the One Hundred and First Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) – Agriculture.
The meeting was convened at the request of President Ali to review the Community’s progress in implementing the CARICOM Agri-Food Systems Agenda and to determine the way forward. The Secretary General of CARICOM, Dr Carla Barnett, and other officials of CARICOM, also participated in the encounter.
The Honourable Zulfikar Mustapha, Minister of Agriculture of Guyana, in his capacity as chair of the Special Ministerial Task Force on Food Production and Food Security, provided an update on the work of that body. The report reflected progress made in a number of areas, including in efforts aimed at de-risking and digitalization of the agriculture sector, addressing transport and logistics issues and promoting private sector investment in priority commodities.
President Ali and the Ministers of Agriculture engaged in a frank and open exchange on experiences, challenges, as well as opportunities in advancing the regional agri-food agenda. Member States reaffirmed their full commitment and agreed on a number of steps to give further impetus to the agenda. These include the removal of non-tariff measures, the harmonisation of sanitary and phytosanitary standards, the further development of capacity and the application of technology in the agricultural sector, addressing transport and logistics, and developing agro-processing, amongst others. There was a special focus on initiatives to boost regional capacity in the poultry sector across all aspects of the value chain.
President Ali stressed the critical need for the region to work together and redouble its efforts to significantly reduce the regional food import bill by 2025 as well as to advance the agenda of food and nutrition security for the citizens of the Community. The importance of national plans consistent with this regional goal was also underscored, together with an identification of gaps and resource requirements to achieve it.
Further exchanges on the way forward will be held later this month ahead of the Thirty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government scheduled for 1-2 March 2022 in San Pedro, Belize.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
4 February 2022
