Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis (July 24, 2007)
Minister of Agriculture Hon. Cedric Liburd is in Guatemala attending a meeting of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
On the agenda for the IICA meeting are matters relating to trade, agriculture for rural development and agro-energy. Included in the July 23 to 28 series of meetings is the meeting of the Board of Governors of CARDI (the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute). Caribbean ministers of agriculture will meet to discuss the progress of CARDI, which has been going through “struggles” in recent times.
The Caribbean agriculture ministers will also meet as a follow-up to the June Caribbean Donors meeting that was held in Trinidad and attended by prime ministers of the region who have been pushing agriculture onto the front-burners of donor countries and agencies. The minister said delegates would be receiving an update on funds pledged for agricultural development in the Caribbean region.
Minister Liburd said in a Government Information interview that funding support was essential as Caribbean countries address the significant challenges facing Caribbean agriculture, including those of insurance, transportation, marketing and quality standards.