ADDRESS BY CARICOM DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE FOURTH CARIBBEAN WEEK OF AGRICULTURE (CWA 2003), 8 OCTOBER 2003, GEORGETOWN, GUYANA

Salutations

The Secretary General unfortunately could not be present this morning since he is presiding at a Council of Ministers meeting which coincides with this one. He has asked me to represent him here this morning and to convey his best wishes for a successful opening ceremony and week of activities.

I congratulate the Alliance for Sustainable Development of Agriculture, its Secretariat, and the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA 2003) Committee for their assiduous efforts in successfully planning an activity-packed CWA 2003. The calendar of events is most impressive and if fifty per cent of the perceived benefits are realized, regional agricultural development will be the beneficiary for which the community will be extremely grateful.

The CWA 2003 could not be staged at a more appropriate period, immediately following the stalemated WTO negotiations in Cancun in which agriculture played the dominant role. At this juncture, we should seize the opportunity to re-examine the role and importance of the agricultural sector in our countries and to re-affirm our commitment to the re-positioning and development of the sector consistent with, and in like manner to, the importance accorded to agriculture by the developed countries in Cancun: “Nothing moves without agriculture”. 

We are also afforded the opportunity to determine what use will be made of the time provided by the breakdown in negotiations to develop national and regional strategic plans to transform the agricultural sector into one that is internationally competitive. The basic framework for this is laid out in Chapter V of the Revised Treaty and elaborated in the Regional Transformation Programme (RTP) for Agriculture. Commitments made during this week should be for new efforts in developing and implementing strategies for the transformation of regional agriculture into a competitive sector. This is the only means for defending and sustaining the rural economic environment.

Against the background of the lack-lustre performance of the sector and the increase of food imports, I understand that we will review during the week the performance against the potential of the sector. The opportunity should be taken to examine significant linkages to agriculture and how those linkages can be used to advance the productivity and competitiveness of the sector:

A critical linkage, which is generally ignored, is the agro-process linkage which has the potential to revolutionise the agro-food market chain by value-added production processes. The production systems for particular commodities are limited in their scale of operation, and while market demand is seasonally satisfied with fresh produce, we consistently miss the larger market segment of processed food, which is being satisfied by imported products. Several studies have been commissioned and they point to the need to increase the scale of primary production to support an organised regional agro-industry system. The implementation of this requires a regional vision and cooperative efforts in order to create the operational environment to put effect to such ventures.

For too long we continue to speak of the need for regional strategic development of the sector without the collaborative spirit to drive us to action. Examination of the applications for the suspension of the CET to allow imports will indicate that there are windows of opportunities for the development of regional agricultural production ventures with the capability to contribute to the economic and social development of the Region. With the progressive implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the unity achieved leading up to and at Cancun, and the increased involvement of the private sector supported by activities such as those of the Alliance, it is hoped that an enabling environment will be created to encourage the successful and sustainable exploitation of such opportunities over the medium term.

Among the many topics up for discussion during the week is the development of the intra-regional market linkage. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat over time has worked with other agencies to support the development of the Caribbean Agricultural Market Intelligence Development Network (CAMID), and this project is now being implemented with the generous help of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Among the many objectives of CAMID is the development of the intra-regional market linkage for the distribution of agricultural produce. It is recognised that the current scope of the CAMID project is limited, but resulting from its programme of activities, the market physical and institutional infrastructural requirements to support intra-regional marketing efforts will be identified. The support for the project coming out of the in-country consultations, which have taken place, is most encouraging. The efforts, which require the highest degree of regional unity to succeed in achieving its objectives, must be sustained.

The size of the region’s domestic market is limited, but we continue to disregard the market segment provided by the millions of visitors to our shores. The Alliance should be commended for including the agro-tourism linkage in their deliberations this week. This topic has attracted the attention of the Community, but we are yet to come up with an accepted strategy to exploit this market segment. The tourism industry continues to import over 70 per cent of its food requirements. I commend it to the Alliance to examine the potential of the sector to promote exports by exposing the tourists to our countries to the taste of Caribbean cuisine. 

In closing, it is important to bring into focus the agro-social/rural economic stability linkage. It is accepted that the social decay of our towns and cities has a linkage to the decline in agriculture and the accompanying decline in rural economies – I understand that this is one of the concerns of the Alliance. We have analysed the rural-urban drift ad nauseam, but a successful strategy for rural reconstruction has not yet emerged. This situation has resulted in serious social problems in towns and cities as well as an adverse reaction within rural communities. The criminal element resulting from the decay of rural communities is now operating in and plaguing the very rural communities. Crime fighting in the Region is costing billions of dollars. In discussing the development and repositioning of agriculture and the revitalization of rural communities, the linkage with social stability cannot be ignored.

The theme of this workshop: “Promoting Greater Caribbean Competitiveness in National, Regional and International Food Markets” is most apt. I look forward to the fruitful outcome of your deliberations.