Caribbean agricultural sector seeking China’s assistance

Caribbean countries are looking to China to help develop their agricultural sector and are seeking to take advantage of a US$50 million fund established by Beijing.

Caribbean agriculture ministers joined their counterparts from Latin America and China for two days of talks this week, and according to an official statement issued here, they have adopted a declaration in which they “pledged to deepen and expedite cooperation among their countries, making full use of scientific and technological developments as well as a US$50 million fund made available by the Chinese government”.

The meeting was held under the theme “Mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win development”.

Barbados Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management Minister, Dr. David Estwick, noted that the ambitions of the meeting coincided “with the plans of… government to reform the agricultural sector of Barbados, and to promote the sector for the 21st century that is modern, competitive and responds to the reality that our nation is one of the most food-insecure in the Caribbean region”.

Estwick said that Barbados was developing a project with the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies for a Centre for Food Security and Entrepreneurship aimed at promoting research and training in sustainable food production and entrepreneurship in the Caribbean in collaboration with international partners such as China.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Agriculture Minister Hilson Baptiste  said he intends to make an application on behalf of farmers in his country to benefit from the US$50 million fund.

He said he would be seeking funds to acquire new technologies to assist farmers who are losing an estimated 80 per cent of their onion crop due to inadequate harvesting equipment.

“Farmers are suffering tremendously and it really concerns me that thousands pounds of food are lost each day because of lack of post-harvesting technology. I’m praying that after my presentation at the meeting that I will obtain the assistance to help the farmers; that’s my concern,” he added. (CMC) 

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Date Posted

June 13 2013