BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AGRICULTURE Ministers from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have gathered in St. Kitts to chart the sector’s way forward under the new OECS Economic Union.
Representatives from each OECS state are currently in discussions geared at improving the efficiency of regional agricultural production, processing and distribution.
The two-day meeting kicked off yesterday morning (May 31) at the Marriott Resort and Royal Beach Casino with a packed agenda that includes deliberations on the agriculture-tourism linkage, agribusiness and food safety, and the results of an OECS shipping study.
The OECS Economic Union will formally come into effect on June 10, in keeping with a deadline imposed by the revised Treaty of Basseterre. Some of its provisions are free trade, the free movement of labour and capital, and a regional assembly of parliamentarians.
Director of OECS Economic Affairs Randolph Cato said the meeting would lay the groundwork for a transition to a higher level of cooperation, collaboration and common action.
“We can build on those things that have happened and correct those that were not done in the right way. We must take this opportunity to redress the long neglect of the agriculture sector and to find ways to put the sector on the soundest commercial,” he stated.
Cato noted that the contribution of agriculture to GDP had dipped from nine to five percent in the last 15 years, and stressed that it was time to reposition OECS agriculture to take its “rightful place” in the social and economic landscape.
SKN Minister of Agriculture Dr. Hon. Timothy Harris welcomed his regional counterparts and, echoing Cato, set out his vision for regional agriculture. He highlighted the challenges facing the sector but expressed optimism for future endeavours.
Harris was particularly focused on the implementation of an OECS shipping service that would provide first-class transportation services to the sub-region.
“Unfortunately there has not been any success in achieving a regional means of ownership or control of a profitable shipping network.
“If OECS Agriculture is to rise to its anticipated heights of grandeur, then we must position ourselves to at least exercise control over a shipping network that provides it with reliability, affordability, excellent performance and outstanding customer care.”
The Agriculture Minister also encouraged residents to “launch out into the deep” and become more profoundly involved in agribusiness.
