The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) said it will finance consultancy services for a study to explore options for establishing a maritime cargo service between Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago primarily for the movement of agricultural products.

The initiative, which forms part of the bank’s pledge to improve food security within the Caribbean, also aims to promote regional cooperation. It further demonstrates support for the 25 by 2025 imperative, announced last year by Caricom heads of government, which wants to achieve a 25 per cent reduction in the region’s food import bill by 2025. The heads having identified lack of adequate regional transportation as a major obstacle to the movement of agricultural products within the Caribbean, also cited it among the major contributors to food insecurity.

“Policymakers in Caricom have established that intra-regional agricultural trade can balance food deficits and surpluses, contribute to price stability, and increase the diversity of food supply, all of which can achieve greater food and nutrition security for the Caribbean,” stated Daniel Best, CDB’s director of projects.

He added, “CDB is aware that improving intra-regional trade in agriculture will require interventions across the ecosystem; however, the provision of efficient and sustainable transportation to move agricultural goods will go a far way in achieving 25 by 25.”

Maritime transport, which is by far the main mode of international transport for goods, internationally and in the region, has over the years, particularly for the latter, seen significant declines as maritime transport volumes as well as shipments to and from Caribbean countries continue to have insufficient volumes to attract a significant number of regular liners for shipping services. The matter of improved transportation and connectivity which has remained an area of high concern over the last few years was recently raised at the Agriculture Expo hosted in Guyana. Caricom heads of government who were in attendance at the exposition used the opportunity to again call on investors to allocate funding to transport goods throughout the community.

“It is imperative to find the means to move our goods,” Prime Minster of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne had said during the expo, indicating also that at the moment it was much easier to ship goods from Miami than within the region.

The CDB following the announcement said that a technical working group was now being established to provide oversight for the study. The body, it said, will include representatives from governments across participating countries, the Caricom Secretariat, the Caricom Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) as well as from the bank.

The project will help to explore a number of options with hopes to address a range of factors affecting the conveyance of agricultural products by sea including management and operational systems, onshore facilities, food safety provisions as well as customs and plant quarantine operations.

“The main objective of the initiative is to identify opportunities for urgent improvement in maritime transportation capacity, recommend transportation modalities and provide solutions which utilise existing shipping assets,” the CDB said.