GEORGETOWN, Guyana – A new initiative aimed at lessening the Caribbean region’s poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition has been launched in Guyana.
US Ambassador to Guya addressing launch of CAPAThe United States Agency for Development (USAID), in partnership with Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC), formally launched the regional agricultural program, Caribbean Agricultural Productivity Improvement Activity (CAPA) that they say will spark investments to increase efficiency and reliability in growing and accessing food so that farmers can better nourish families, communities, and regional countries.
The three-year US$5.3 million project will focus on providing support to farmers to increase the production of fruit and vegetables, and building connections between consumers. It will also input suppliers, and help with improving farm-level extension systems.
Additionally, the project will utilise an integrated value chain approach to support value addition and practical storage solutions to preserve shelf life while easing the implementation of on-farm technology like climate-smart practices and shade shelters to boost yields.
Speaking at the launch held at the University of Guyana, US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot said that the CAPA programme is an important milestone in US-Caribbean relations in addressing food insecurity regionally.
She said Washington is supporting its partners in the region to address the unique and evolving climate, energy, food security, and capacity challenges facing Caribbean nations.
The US diplomat said that CAPA grew out of the Ninth Summit of the America and stands as a swift response from the United States. It is a major pillar of PACC2030, the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030.
She said CAPA will address food insecurity challenges facing the region, exacerbated by the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war, the ongoing climate crisis, rising food prices, and the disruption to supply chains.
Ambassador Theriot affirmed the significance of CAPA in supporting improved smallholder access to markets and integration into value chains, as well as providing agritech and climate smart technology opportunities with small and medium agribusinesses and farmers.
CAPA will be rolled out in Dominica, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. It will also provide virtual capacity building and knowledge sharing events for stakeholders throughout the Eastern and Southern Caribbean region.
Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha noted that heavy investments have been pumped into the agriculture sector to advance food productivity over the years and that CAPA fits into the collective regional food security policies and aggressive food security agenda to achieve the ambitious 25 by 2025 goal.
“I am particularly encouraged by the intention of this project… All of the far-reaching benefits that this project promises can be divorced from other related regional goals such as the reduction of our food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025. In fact, all of the commodities that are being targeted in this project are identified as priority commodities in some form under the 25 by 2025 programme,” Mustapha stated.
n Guyana, he said hundreds of young people are also benefiting from the Agriculture Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme (AIEP).
USAID Regional Representative, Mervyn Farroe said his organisation “is committed to supporting the Caribbean in unlocking the full potential of its agricultural sector” reiterating that CAPA is one of several initiatives supported by USAID, another being the Farmer-to-Farmer program.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett stressed the importance of the project reaching the intended beneficiaries to improve food security while creating wealth and economic development for the region.
She referred to several initiatives spearheaded by CARICOM, including the highly successful Caribbean Week of Agriculture, the approval of several long-standing policies by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to enable greater intra-regional trade, and the upcoming CARICOM Development Partners Meeting on Food Security.
