Jagdeo Initiative Critical To Stemming Regional Food Crisis

July 02-08 - As Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Leaders including President Bharrat Jagdeo continue discussions in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda on a number of issues at the 29th CARICOM Heads of Government summit ongoing on the island, Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza underscored that the Jagdeo Initiative on Agriculture is critical to stemming the gravity of the region’s food crisis.
The Jagdeo Initiative on Agriculture was initiated by President Bharrat Jagdeo as lead Head for Agriculture in the Region. It is a strategic policy framework that sets the agenda for repositioning of agriculture in the region by identifying 10 key binding constraints that must be addressed as the region embarks on the process of increasing food security and food sovereignty.
Insulza said he is prepared to work with organizations within the framework of the OAS to seek solutions, ensure food security, alleviate the situation in the short-term and improve the conditions of agriculture production in the region.
The Secretary-General argued that the problem the region faces is not really that of food supply or food shortage but that of demand, noting that people in the region simply do not have the money to pay for food and keep up with the rate of the price increases.
With this view, Insulza is calling on the region to find ways to improve the demand capacity of its people.
The Secretary General told reporters this following a breakfast meeting with the Heads where he said the most salient issue discussed was the rising food prices being experienced by the region.
It is expected that the OAS Permanent Council will be meeting and the Regional Agricultural Investment Forum held in Guyana on June 6 and 7 is also expected to be high on the agenda.
The forum held in Guyana in June came under the umbrella of the initiative and sought to bring investors, bankers and others in the agriculture sector on board. It also served as a networking forum for the stakeholders where an investment atmosphere in the region would be created and participants would examine investment opportunities in the region.