Business View Caribbean | February 2021

50 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN FEBRUARY 2021 challenge we face. Hence, CARDI’s quest to bring greater technology solutions to those farmers. There is also the issue of the high cost of labour and availability. We are still in the process of shifting from the plantation system that dominated banana and citrus and other commodities, and having the countries become part of the global family of agriculture and join the world trade organization. Having to adhere to the rules of engagement set by WTO meant we have to become a lot more competitive. The protected markets we had for sugar and banana and rice etc. were all dissipated and now we have to operate within that global arena. “There have been less than desirable investments in the sector because most of the very small countries in the Caribbean have made strategic investments in tourism, in particular, and to some extent international business and manufacturing, and not so heavily in the agriculture sector. However, in the case of Guyana, Surinam, Belize and Jamaica to a lesser extent, where agriculture represents more than 10 percent of their economy and up to 30 percent of the labour force, we’re seeing they are less dependent on imports than smaller countries that are much more dependent on the tourism sector. Those issues, in more recent times exacerbated by disruption in the supply chain caused by COVID-19, are the challenges we face on a daily basis.” BVC: How else has the pandemic affected the industry? Clarke: “Initially, the entire farmer community was in lockdown, so a lot less attention was paid to their crops and livestock. We then, along with the CARICOM secretariat, established a working group including other regional institutions such as the Caribbean Public Health Agency, and the Caribbean Agency for Crime and Security Issues. During March, April, and May 2020, we developed a framework and an operational plan for responding to the COVID situation. One of the criteria we established in the beginning was Waste management is a major focus of our activities under the Regional Coconut Development Project. Biochar produced from coconut waste Scotch Bonnet pepper seeds are produced by CARDI and distributed across the region.