On 21 February 2025, at the end of the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Barbados, Dr. Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana and Lead Head of Government with responsibility for agriculture and food security in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, announced that 25 by 2025 Initiative, which targeted the reduction of the CARICOM’s more than $6B food import bill by 25 percent by yearend, has now been extended to 2030.
Vision 25% by 2025 is long term social and economic partnership between: Member States, the Regional Private Sector (CARICOM Private Sector Organization-CPSO), Regional Organizations, Producer Groups, Development Partners and Civil Society which outlines actions and critical areas of intervention to tackle the Region’s rising food import bill, improve intra-regional trade, and create wealth and economic opportunity for every CARICOM Member State.
The 25 by 2025 initiative outlines several key focus areas aimed at transforming and strengthening the agricultural sector within the region. One of the primary objectives is to remove barriers that limit access to markets for agri-food products. This involves the development and implementation of policies that facilitate trade and encourage greater private sector participation. Additionally, the initiative seeks to provide alternative financing and insurance mechanisms to de-risk the agricultural sector, thereby improving its resilience and sustainability.
Another major focus is on improving transportation and logistics across Member States (MS) to ensure the efficient movement of agri-food products within the region. The initiative also emphasizes promoting greater cross-border investment, human resource development, and the adoption of climate-smart production mechanisms to build a more sustainable and competitive agricultural sector.
The digitization of agriculture is a further priority, with plans to implement an E-Agriculture Strategy to modernize the sector and leverage technology for increased productivity. Lastly, there is a commitment to revisit the Rules of Origin, revise the Common External Tariff (CET), and update the Suspensions Regime, all aimed at improving trade facilitation and encouraging private sector investment and involvement in the agri-food industry. Collectively, these focus areas represent a comprehensive approach to achieving the goals of 25 by 2025, promoting growth, resilience, and sustainability in the region’s agricultural sector.
he priority areas under the 2025 agenda focus on strengthening agriculture financing and insurance, enhancing policy implementation, and promoting regional trade and e-agriculture. In the area of agriculture financing and insurance, key priorities include the creation of an investor-friendly environment and the implementation of a Regional Agricultural Insurance Product to provide greater security to stakeholders. Efforts will be made to explore alternative financing mechanisms and establish a Regional Sustainable Finance Facility to support investment in the sector. There will also be a focus on promoting and attracting cross-border investments, increasing private sector participation, and supporting the development of production corridors. Measures to de-risk the sector will be developed alongside initiatives to encourage greater business-to-business agreements and improve transportation and logistics systems within the region.
In terms of policy implementation, the focus will be on ensuring food and nutrition security and operationalizing Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) related policies to meet international standards. Increasing agricultural production through climate-smart practices and enhancing regional transportation and logistics through policy improvements are also prioritized. Furthermore, legislative measures will be introduced to support the growth and sustainability of the agricultural sector.
For regional trade and e-agriculture, the agenda emphasizes the further elimination of technical barriers to trade in agricultural produce, supporting greater market access. There will be a continued push towards the digitization of the sector through the adoption of technology, fostering digital agriculture practices. Research and Development (R&D), capacity building, and technical exchange will be encouraged to strengthen skills and knowledge within the sector, driving innovation and competitiveness across the region.
At the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Barbados, the Guyanese President announced: “Now, the 2030 food security agenda will incorporate a tech-driven agricultural sector and includes greater participation from women and young people. We will now be expanding the focus to achieving not only food security but resilience, sustainability, and enhance technology with greater participation among women and youth by 2030.”
“We are adding some additional goals, we were successful with expanding production notwithstanding hurricanes, storms, floods all of which destroyed production and productive capacity but our farmers, our policy makers have shown tremendous resilience,” President Ali said.
