It has been quite some time since Caribbean Community (Caricom) has been pondering the issue of regional food security. Regional heads, ministers of agriculture and technocrats have been doing so with the usual dilatoriness that has long ago led to the conclusion that the respective governments are not as serious as they ought to be on this issue. Former president Jagdeo’s regional food security advocacy had actually become a talking point for regional heads though at the end of the day, some of the commitments that were made in the matter of a regional initiative to kick start a serious regional food security programme never saw the light of day.
Part of the understanding was that each Caricom country would pour more resources into their respective agricultural programmes. Then there was talk about major bilateral agricultural projects involving Guyana – on account of its large tracts of fertile land – and Trinidad and Tobago. There was talk too about attracting extra-regional investment and working to clear the hurdle of crop insurance, a concern which potential investors had raised.
It appeared very much, however, as though once the deliberations were over, the respective member states assumed a more-or-less ‘as you were’ posture, save and except a
