• Covid-19
  • Travel Protocols
  • Immigration & Customs Form
Friday, May 9, 2025
SKNIS
  • Home
  • About
  • Press Releases
  • Parliament
  • In The News
  • Bills
No Result
View All Result
SKNIS
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

The dual assault of the pandemic and volcano eruption has sparked the need for deeper Caribbean regional integration

SKNISEditor by SKNISEditor
May 4, 2021
in Featured, Press Releases
The dual assault of the pandemic and volcano eruption has sparked the need for deeper Caribbean regional integration
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Related posts

CARICOM FOREIGN MINISTERS WELCOME EXPERTISE AND LEADERSHIP OF SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS’ DR. DENZIL DOUGLAS

CARICOM FOREIGN MINISTERS WELCOME EXPERTISE AND LEADERSHIP OF SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS’ DR. DENZIL DOUGLAS

May 8, 2025
ASPIRE Financial Literacy Day 2025 Set to Empower Youth Across Saint Kitts and Nevis

ASPIRE Financial Literacy Day 2025 Set to Empower Youth Across Saint Kitts and Nevis

May 8, 2025

Chelston Brathwaite, Director General Emeritus of The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Manuel Otero, Director General of The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)
  The Covid-19 crisis has exposed the vulnerabilities of the economies of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Saint Lucia, and other small, tourism-dependent Caribbean countries. These economies typically must contend with a limited availability of arable land, small and often scattered populations, fragile natural environments, an energy import dependency, extreme vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters, as well as high rates of diet-related illnesses.  In recent years, these countries have also experienced high levels of external and internal debt.

The grave situation for these small economies was further heightened with the recent eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The eruption on April 9 at 8:41 in the morning released a column of ashfall that drifted towards the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, subsequent eruptions continued to aggravate the situation. Approximately 20,000 people in St. Vincent had to be evacuated and will not be able to return to their homes for at least three or four months. There has been a disruption in the drinking water supply to most of the island and the presence of smoke and ash has forced the closure of the airspace.

This disaster has multiple implications for St. Vincent, from an economic, health, social, and safety perspective. The natural phenomenon is having a particularly detrimental effect on agriculture, as farmers in the affected zone had to be evacuated, abandoning their crops, and leaving their animals unattended. The fall-off in agricultural production in the short term will be severe.

Since the 1950s, the economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been based on agriculture, primarily banana production. In recent times, tourism, industry, and financial services have become important sectors of the economy.

Regular income generated by banana exports fueled the economic growth of the 80s and the start of the 90s. However, given that the crop is vulnerable to hurricanes, drought, and pests, it has weathered serious challenges. Recently, the country has aimed for agricultural diversification and today St. Vincent exports a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to the United Kingdom and livestock to the Caribbean market. The fishing industry also generates significant income.

The eruption of the volcano will aggravate the situation of the tourism-dependent economies of the Eastern Caribbean, given that its effects have spread to Barbados, Saint Lucia, and other neighboring islands. Agriculture in most of these countries has been negatively affected by the ashfall. This scenario foreshadows an even greater reduction in tourism and systemic daunting challenges for regional food security caused by and aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic respectively.

Caribbean countries are also extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. Hurricanes are common in the region – the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and Dorian in 2019 are stark reminders of this. Consequently, it is important for countries to be prepared to face potential similar events in 2021. In the Caribbean, a single hurricane can wipe out a small island’s annual GDP, with the poor often taking the hardest blow. Preventive measures must be implemented to protect people’s lives and income.

Within the context of the volcano eruption, the pandemic, +nd a looming hurricane season from June to November, there is an opportunity to reposition the agrifood sector of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The first step involves solidifying the strategic role of the Caribbean agriculture sector in guaranteeing food security, generating employment, and addressing the high incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases.

The time has come to engage in joint, collaborative work based on the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy approved in 2010 and the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan 2012-2026, and in response to the call to create a Caribbean Food Plan and a Caribbean Food Security Development Fund. It is not by chance that, at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit in February 2020, Barbados Prime Minister, Honorable Mia Amor Mottley, then chair of the regional organization, asserted that food security is a key issue for the region and invited the private sector to submit proposals aimed at reducing food imports by 25% by 2025.

Deepening regional integration by means of a single, common market and an economic union would be key pillars of economic reconstruction. Consequently, the Caribbean Food Plan must foster joint actions aimed at capitalizing on national comparative advantages such as land, water, and markets, as well as drive strategic partnerships between governments and the private sector.

The actions that would allow for repositioning Caribbean agriculture include reducing dependence on extra-regional agrifood imports; strengthening linkages between the agrifood, tourism, and health sectors; establishing public-private partnerships in local food production and processing; implementing climate-smart technologies; transitioning towards digital agriculture; building awareness among Caribbean societies of the importance of producing and consuming healthy food; and implementing the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy approved in 2010.

Implementing this agenda will require coordination among national, regional, and international agencies. The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) stands ready to serve as a bridge for cooperation and as a unifying force in this broad partnership, working side by side with national and international partners to lay the foundation for a “new” agriculture sector in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and by extension the Caribbean region as a whole.

IICA conveys its solidarity to the government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and all Caribbean nations, reaffirming its commitment to align forces and working towards a more sustainable, diversified, and resilient agriculture. 

04th May, 2021  

Previous Post

FAO provided urgent technical assistance for the agriculture sector (livestock, crops, fisheries and rural livelihoods) to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labour in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Next Post

Senior health officials highlight significance of Community Health Nurses on Nevis

Next Post
Senior health officials highlight significance of Community Health Nurses on Nevis

Senior health officials highlight significance of Community Health Nurses on Nevis

WHAT'S HOT

CARICOM FOREIGN MINISTERS WELCOME EXPERTISE AND LEADERSHIP OF SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS’ DR. DENZIL DOUGLAS

CARICOM FOREIGN MINISTERS WELCOME EXPERTISE AND LEADERSHIP OF SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS’ DR. DENZIL DOUGLAS

May 8, 2025
ASPIRE Financial Literacy Day 2025 Set to Empower Youth Across Saint Kitts and Nevis

ASPIRE Financial Literacy Day 2025 Set to Empower Youth Across Saint Kitts and Nevis

May 8, 2025
VACANCY NOTICE – QUARRY WELDER

Vacancy Notice – Environment Crime Analyst Consultant

May 7, 2025

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • 2025
  • Attorney General, Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs
  • Bills
  • Featured
  • Featured Ministry
  • Government Projects
  • Home Page Slider
  • In Focus
  • In The News
  • Interviews
  • Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources; Cooperatives; Entrepreneurship and Creative Economy
  • Ministry of Education, Youth; Social Development; Gender Affairs; Aging and Disabilities
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, Industry and Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Economic Development and Investment
  • Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities; Domestic Transport; Information, Communication and Technology; and Posts
  • Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment; Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment
  • Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation; International Transport; Employment and Labour; Urban Development
  • Notices
  • Parliament
  • PMO Press Releases
  • Press Conferences
  • Press Releases
  • Prime Ministers Office, Ministry of Finance; National Security; Citizenship and Immigration; Health and Social Security
  • Register of Voters
  • Round Table
  • The Cabinet Secretariat, Cabinet Secteatry
  • Uncategorized

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

Facebook Pagelike Widget

LOCATION

St. Kitts Nevis Information Service
Government Headquarters
Chruch Street
Basseterre
St. Kitts
Tel:(869)467-1416

FOLLOW US

  • Government of St. Kitts & Nevis

© 2020 St. Kitts & Nevis Information Service. Developed by E-Government Unit

No Result
View All Result
  • Home

© 2020 St. Kitts & Nevis Information Service. Developed by E-Government Unit