T&T hosts talks on regional agriculture

Today is the second and final day of a meeting of one of the technical management advisory committees (TMAC) set up by Caricom to look at co-ordination of agricultural research and development in the region. This TMAC was set up to define ways to address one of the ten key binding constraints, as identified in the Jagdeo Initiative, namely “Inadequate Research and Development.” It is led by the Ministry of Agriculture, St Lucia and convened by the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Cardi).

Hubert Emmanuel, permanent secretary at St Lucia’s Ministry of Agriculture, is chairing the sessions at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain. The Jagdeo Initiative is a strategy for removing constraints to the development of agriculture in the Caribbean. It builds upon past regional efforts to develop a common agricultural policy (CAP) and identifies ten key binding constraints faced by the sector, with resulting necessary actions.

The anticipated outcome of this meeting is agreement on the way forward for a regional strategy for research and development; a strategy for linkages with Latin America; and identification of essentials to address climate change. 

Officials at this meeting include representatives of Caricom, the Ministry of Food Production, the University of the West Indies, the University of Guyana, the University of T&T, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA).

Adapted from the Guardian Media Limited (Guardian Newspaper).