Current State in Related Sectors

There is a strong need to enhance the involvement of Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in agricultural value chains in the Caribbean. They dominate the agricultural sector and make a significant contribution to the Region’s economic growth and development, food security and employment. However, they have traditionally faced many, sometimes crippling, challenges due to their restricted size and reach; they are poorly serviced, fragmented, located on less productive soils and are lacking basic production infrastructure. (CARICOM Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture, Competitiveness Study, Dec 2007).

ICTs can play a key role in this approach as they provide effective channels for connecting stakeholders and conveying the information flows which favour the emergence of new services, thus strengthening the value chains. As indicated in the Mapping Study on Value Chain Initiatives undertaken by CTA in 2011, « ICT has the potential to improve efficiency by reducing the cost of doing business along the agricultural commodity value chain and improving conversion of inputs into outputs (horizontal integration). It can also facilitate vertical integration by small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs in value chains ».

However, the manner in which these integrations in the chains or in the sector as a whole, are being operated and how they can be further consolidated, is sparsely documented and hardly understood by Caribbean actors.

It is therefore crucial to fully understand how to better harness ICTs in agricultural value chains, identify, share and support the deployment of innovations, promote the design and implementation of adequate ICT strategies and strengthen stakeholders’ capacity needs.