OPENING REMARKS BY
JOSEPH COX
ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL
TRADE AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
AT THE
FIFTY-NINTH SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (COTED) –
AGRICULTURE
TURKEYEN, GUYANA
OCTOBER 8, 2015
Hon. Eugene Hamilton, Minister of Agriculture, St. Kitts and Nevis and
Chairman of the Fifty-Ninth Special Meeting of the COTED on Agriculture
Honourable Ministers
Other Heads of Delegations
Ladies and Gentlemen
I address you on behalf of the Secretary-General who unfortunately could not
be here with you on this auspicious occasion. He has asked me to extend his
apologies and further advises that he looks forward to meeting with you at the
earliest opportunity. It is therefore incumbent on me to welcome you all to this
Fifty-ninth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic
Development (COTED) focusing on Agriculture.
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I am new here having been on the job a mere 5 weeks. I am neither a glass half
full nor a glass half empty kind of guy. My attitude is simply this; while others
debate those issues I will drink the water and refill the glass. In other words
ladies and gentlemen, mine is a pragmatic approach and an approach I would
collectively commend to this meeting as we recognize that for Agriculture in
this region to achieve its full potential we need to turn the pages of time and
recognize that it is indeed a new day.
Agriculture is a business not a social welfare programme. Business is not static
but dynamic and therefore sometimes we are faced with hard choices. It is
often said that if you have a business with declining market share and no real
prospects for recovery what you actually possess is not a business but an
expensive hobby. Indeed some of the subsectors which previously were the
doyen of our very existence are now moribund and it’s time to seek those
areas of opportunity in which we possess a competitive and comparative
advantage.
In that light, recent developments in the international trade arena have given
us pause as we are now forced to take a hard look at our place in the
international trading environment. These developments juxtaposed against
the loss/erosion of preferential access to international markets have
consequences for our development objectives. However, this provides us with
an opportunity to focus more intently on the Regional Market - a market of 15
million people. Indeed the more complex and intricate the situation the more
we need confidence, hope and resolve to overcome those challenges. It’s a
New Day
One of the major challenges facing the Regional Agricultural Sector is the
accomplishment of meaningful structural transformation and dynamic
competitiveness which will facilitate our ability to compete globally. While
exchange rate valuation is important to economic growth and in fact is one of
the policy levers used in treating with issues of competitiveness, it is not the
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only policy tool. Indeed, standard theories may not be fully applicable to
smaller states. The relationship between exchange rate valuation and growth
may be ambiguous for small countries, due to their high reliance on imports
and structural factors that may limit the scope for supply responses.
Honourable Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, we therefore need to ensure
that our agriculture development strategies facilitate an environment that
fosters increased production and access to global and regional markets.
However in that light we must be clinical in our assessments and pragmatic in
our search for solutions while ensuring that said solutions are congruent with a
changing economic environment.
The measure of our success as a Region cannot be defined in terms of the
quantum of strategies developed but in terms of their efficacy. In other words
let us say goodbye to the days of best endeavours and let us usher in “a new
day” of actual achievement.
For the agriculture sector to become dynamic and competitive, as a Region, we
need to employ strategies at both the macro and micro levels through
partnership between the public sector, the private sectors and trades union
movement. We have to come to the realization that no single group can go it
alone, and that collaboration is not a choice but an imperative. It’s a new day
I would suggest that this New Day for Agriculture can have as its objectives the
following:
1. The continued evolution of the strategy for the achievement of food selfsufficiency and achieving economic and technical efficiency in food
production through the full implementation of the Caribbean Food and
Nutrition Security Policy and the Caribbean Agricultural Policy;
2. Reduction of risks and uncertainties in agriculture by revisiting our
strategies for the alleviation of the Key Binding Constraints to
agriculture;
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3. Promotion of a unified regional extension mechanism using defined
modalities which includes effective knowledge sharing across borders ;
4. Promotion of agro-allied industries to increase agriculture production
across value chains
5. Promotion of large aggregators, using a cluster approach which
facilitates these firms acting as a single purchase point for a cluster of
small (contract) farmers which will lead to increased economies of scale
and greater output levels. It also allows for these small farmers to be
paid in a more timely manner which allows for greater operational
efficiencies and sustained economic viability
6. Establishment of a transparent and harmonized agricultural incentive
mechanism which allows perceived and real barriers to entry in the
industry to be decimated and is likely to give fillip particularly to young
person’s desirous of pursuing a career in agriculture
7. Renewed efforts at treating with issues of land titling with both
concessional financing being provided to aid in the acquisition of titles
but also a reengineered process which modernizes mechanisms and
treats frontally with issues such as root of title and the referee system
How do we achieve those objectives?
imperatives:
I commend to you the following
1. Creating a conducive macroeconomic environment to facilitate private
sector investment
2. Development of a harmonized agricultural incentive framework
3. Establishment of a mechanism for meaningful dialogue between private
and public sector and trades unions with regards to Agricultural
Development
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4. Development of financing framework for agriculture inclusive of financial
instruments such as factoring, partial credit guarantees and incorporates
collateral reform to name a few
5. Rectification of import duty anomalies in respect of agricultural products
6. Demand side financing solutions
7. Increased collaboration with the maritime transport cohort as the intraregional shipping costs are simply too high
Honourable Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, while cognizance is taken of the
fact that some of these issues will require collaboration and consultation and
may take some time to get off the ground, in the short-term, and to increase
our productivity and competiveness we can begin the “new day” by:
1. Confronting the issue of agricultural modernization. Indeed it is pointless
for us to be seeking to compete in industries which are almost totally
mechanized and technology driven while we continue to be heavily
reliant on manual labour. Let’s use foresight and the strength of our firm
regional resolve to retrain workers where appropriate to minimize the
dislocations which are sure to occur as we exit some markets but
embrace new opportunities.
2. Let us begin the new day by acknowledging that the CET is impatient of
reform in terms of waivers and suspensions. The status quo which
obtains threatens to undermine the very framework for sustainability
that we are all committed to enhancing. We need a structural protocol
replete with the transparency guarantees that public policy demand that
once and for all treats with the requests for waivers and suspensions.
Indeed these requests must be determined on a data driven basis only.
3. Let us begin the new day by recognizing that we need to develop a
regional Agriculture crop insurance mechanism
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4. Let us begin the new day by finally confronting the perennially vexed
issue of praedial larceny
5. Let us begin the new day through the development of streamlined
collateral reform mechanisms which allow for the use of agricultural
equipment to secure loans without there being a requirement for real
estate to supplement the collateral requirements. Let’s also use the
opportunity to develop non-traditional collateral mechanisms which will
allow farmers to use crop yields e.g. rice, farm animals etc. as legitimate
collateral mechanisms. All this ladies and gentlemen in an effort to
deepen and strengthen the penetration of the industry.
6. Let us begin the new day through partial credit guarantees which also
represents an avenue of hope in an effort to combat the challenges
faced in the main by Agricultural interests particularly those engaged in
primary goods production
7. Let us begin the new day through the development of a structured
intervention strategy which incorporates improving market information
in an effort to avoid the adverse impact of the procyclical approach
which currently obtains. In that vein let’s also explore the possibilities for
the identification of new markets as well as strengthen our linkages with
the agro processors which has the potential to yield even greater value
added
8. Let us begin the new day by focusing on improving the quality of rural
life and finally
9. Let us begin the new day by focusing on capacity development
(including financing) for small farmers to reengineer their current
farming practices
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Honourable Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you the above for
your consideration and my team and I stand ready and able to work with
Member States to develop a strategy supported by a time-bound action plan
for the implementation. In this respect I commit to submit to you at your next
sitting, the action plan for increased productivity and competiveness of the
agriculture industry. This is indeed a new day; let us therefore move forward
with dispatch and renewed resolve.
I thank you.
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