Jolly Beach, Antigua, June 18… Ministers of Agriculture voiced their satisfaction at the outcome of the regional Symposium on Agricultural Insurance – DRM held at Jolly Beach, Antigua, stressing the importance of a coordinated effort in the way forward.
Hon. Matthew Walter, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Dominica advised that he is fully committed to working hand in hand with Minister Baptiste and the other colleagues to ensure the goals are achieved.
He reiterated that the forum generated many salient ideas which generated many considerations for the way forward and singled out presentations made by CaFAN and CABA, in this regard.
“Agricultural insurance is not insurmountable and we can achieve it, if we put our heads and resources together (human, financial and material).” Minister Walter added.
In developing a programme to respond to agricultural risks in the Caribbean, the region must choose the correct insurance schemes that will adequately respond to the sub-sector under consideration be it crops, livestock, fisheries or forestry.
“We need to set ourselves specific and realistic time frames and not expect coverage for everything at one time – but we have to set the ball rolling.”
Hon. Michael Dennis Lett, Minister of Agriculture, Grenada took the opportunity to thank the funding agencies for paving the way for this meeting to take place. He outlined the difficulty that the Government of Grenada had in assisting farmers to resuscitate their lands after the passage of Hurricane Ivan. “The advent of an agricultural insurance scheme will go a long way. We must look at the low hanging fruits that can be picked immediately and take this process forward.”
Minister Lett added that we can depend on Minister Baptiste to ensure that the reports do not stay on the shelf and that action is taken in carrying these initiatives forward.
In response, Minister Baptiste advised that the World Bank and the CDB are fully on board with us and we need to work together to achieve realistic targets set.
The way forward
A resolution was reached following 3 days of intense presentations, discussions and plenaries. The participants in the Symposium agreed to the following next critical steps as the way forward towards the achievement of the overall objective:
1. The establishment of a Regional Programme for disaster risk management for the agricultural sector in the Caribbean.
2. The design and implementation of a regional catastrophic risk facility for agricultural insurance in the region.
3. That governmental support be provided to existing private sector insurance and reinsurance entities in the Caribbean utilizing the experiences gained in the present initiatives such as WINCROP and CCRIF and other such related ventures.
4. That the technical team established under the oversight of the Technical Management Advisory Committee (TMAC) will undertake the necessary technical work to complete the Action Plans for the regional insurance programme in the short term and the regional disaster risk management plan in the medium term. These Action Plans will include timelines for the completion of the identified activities.
The Chairman of TMAC will submit the Action Plans for the establishment of a Regional Agricultural Insurance Programme and a Disaster Risk Management Programme for the approval of the Council of Ministers and subsequently to the Heads of Government.
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