If the region as a whole still appears deaf to the sonorous message regarding the unbearable strain on its fragile economies of a multi-million USD food import bill, some countries may be quietly seeking to transform their own individual concerns on the issue into some form of practical action.
Last week, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) announced that agri-entrepreneurs in Jamaica will be able to access a range of manufacturing, training, and marketing support under a two-year project launched last month and which is being implemented by the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC).
The move by Jamaica may well mark the start of a likely wider initiative by countries within the region to jettison the broader, muscle-bound Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ‘food security plan’ and begin to embrace more home-grown pursuits in an effort to significantly reduce the high debt burden to which the cost of food imports is likely making a healthy contribution.
Labelled Increasing the Export Capacity of Micro and Small Agro-Processors Using the Cluster Approach Project, the Jamaica initiative will allow beneficiaries to secure access to an upgraded food incubator, training in world class agriculture and manufacturing practices, and branding and marketing support for the Jamaica Harvest brand. These, one expects, are aimed at better positioning Jamaican farmers and agro-processors to secure enhanced access to metropolitan markets, thereby reducing the imbalance between food imports and exports.
Daniel Best, Director, Projects Department at the CDB, which is supervising the initiative, says the project will “build infrastructure and capacity and increase the economic participation and opportunities of those in agriculture, especially women while also contributing to post COVID-19 recovery.”
Other smaller countries in the region, particularly those whose high food import bills are largely the result of imports designed to respond to the requirements of tourism industries in which their economies are highly dependent, have also been mounting modest initiatives of their own to raise the levels of local food production.
