Trelawny, Jamaica – Caribbean agriculture ministers this week called for deeper regional integration on transport, logistics, and standards, and challenged international financing institutions to design a funding model suited to the Caribbean’s unique risk profile, warning that the region ‘s food security ambitions cannot be achieved without dismantling trade barriers and building the infrastructure that connects production zones to markets.
Speaking during a plenary session on September 28 titled “Achieving the Region’s Vision 25 By 2025+5: The Roadmap for Regional Food Security and Food Systems Transformation,” at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture, moderated by Ambassador David Prendergast, Director of Sectoral Programmes at the CARICOM Secretariat, Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, MP, joined counterparts from Barbados, Belize, and Saint Lucia to assess the progress of the regional food security initiative and map the path forward to 2030.
The session underscored that while production gains have been substantial, the hard infrastructure of regional trade remains the critical missing link.
Hon. Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and New Growth Industries, Belize, shared that, “I do not believe that we are trading as much as possible with each other. We must help each other survive.”
A central theme of the plenary was the urgent need to develop regional food hubs and the transportation networks that support them. As production scales up across Member States, the absence of reliable air and sea linkages, cold-chain storage, and efficient border processes threaten to leave surplus produce stranded and markets undersupplied. Without the ability to move priority commodities including cereals, fruits and vegetables, small ruminants, poultry, beef, roots and tubers, and dairy, from areas of surplus to areas of deficit, the Caribbean’s production targets will not translate into food security.
Ministers agreed that improving inter-regional transportation systems for agricultural commodities is crucial if the region is serious about achieving Vision 25 by 2025+5.
Hon. Lisa Jawahir, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Sustainable Development, Saint Lucia, called for harmonised access to regional standards so that Saint Lucian value-added goods can meet the same quality benchmark as the rest of the Region; a prerequisite, she said, for fair competition in intra-regional trade.
Minister Green noted that despite weather-related disruptions, Jamaica continues to increase production. “We used to average approximately 600,000 tonnes of domestic production. In 2022/2023 we hit our highest level ever at 841,000 tonnes,” he said. “And despite losing the entire last quarter because of Hurricane Melissa, we still ended the year with our second highest level of domestic production.”
Minister Green further noted that, “In order to build a resilient food system, we must build forward. As Caribbean nations, we do not have the luxury of waiting until a disaster strikes to put measures in place. We must plan ahead.”
He further noted that land has been earmarked for agriculture for youth and women, alongside a moratorium on lease payments and an agribusiness challenge to spur innovation, measures aimed at expanding the next generation of Jamaican farmers.
In addressing financing for the sector, theMinisters called for a model that accounts for the Caribbean’s exposure to climate shocks, small market size, and limited collateral.
“We must have investment partners who truly understand our nuances as a region,” said Hon. Shantal Munro-Knight, PhD., Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Barbados.
Minister Green added, “We need to redefine financing for the region and not try to fit the Caribbean into an archaic box for financing. I’m challenging our international partners to come up with a financing model for the region that takes our own risks into consideration. If we can finalise a model endorsed by the financing bodies this week, then CWA would have certainly achieved something.”
The plenary concluded with a clear message: the Caribbean must move beyond rhetoric to true integration. Participants identified priority areas for achievable progress, including capacity building, trade facilitation, and the development of agritech ecosystems.
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