Co-chair of the recently concluded 5th meeting of the CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee, Vincentian Kozel Peters, has underscored the need for CARIFORUM development, to be centered on addressing CARIFORUM specific issues.
Ms. Peters who is also Chair of the Caribbean Policy Development Center (CPDC) posited that agriculture and trade was one of those issues, noting that agriculture trade with the EU continues to decline and CARIFORUM food systems remain threatened.
According to Ms. Peters: “Building resilience in CARIFORUM food systems means building sustainability for small food producers, promoting fairer trading systems and markets, building and supporting sustainable value-added initiatives in that way reducing the carbon footprint of our region accumulated through food imports.
She also highlighted: “the growing number of youth unemployment in many island nations and the need to push rigorously for youths’ access to productive resources, among these the establishment of a Caribbean research and development fund to assist young entrepreneurs to be innovative with product development making our economies more competitive.”
Among the other issues of concern highlighted by Ms. Peters were the vulnerability and volatility of CARIFORUM SIDS to natural disasters and their consequent impacts on the sustainable development of the Caribbean, specifically on its trade infrastructure; the need for better engagement with and greater respect for civil society, and the uncertainties of Brexit.
She noted that the Caribbean region’s heavy dependence on the UK market in its trade with the EU market calls for the establishment of targeted programs of restructuring assistance to Caribbean exporters in the event that the UK leaves the EU customs union and single market.
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