`No one can eat potential’

Everybody says we have potential, but nobody can eat potential.

Mr. Robert Reid, International Agri-Business Specialist at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) made the declaration as he sought to galvanise the Region to become more efficient in feeding itself.

On the second day of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) now underway in Paramaribo, Suriname, Mr. Reid told representatives of the media that “value chain” development should not be “just a buzz word”. Emphasis, he said, should be placed on action, commitment, the development of sound food chains, and the need for communication along the entire value chain.  He pointed also to the necessity for creating linkages with the tourism sector and the provision of finance to support the agriculture sector.

He also highlighted, as a priority, the need to build trust among actors in the sector. There appeared to be a disconnect, he said, between the direction policy-makers were taking and what the actors in the sector wanted.

“There is need for this fusion,” he said.

In addition, the agribusiness specialist said that climate change and its effects on agriculture as well as the phenomenon of an ageing farming population, are challenges that needed to be addressed immediately.

A six-day event, the CWA is being held at the Suriname Chamber of Commerce under the theme `Transforming Caribbean Agriculture through Family Farming’. The premier regional agricultural event and an accompanying trade exhibition and trade show will be opened officially on Wednesday.