1. CARIFORUM REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMMEA: BACKGROUND AND SETTING CARIFORUM comprises 22 million people distributed among 15 small States.[1]Two of them, Haiti and Santo Domingo have more then 7 million inhabitants; among the others, only two have populations above 1 million inhabitants. All are highly subject to the vagaries of external forces - physically, in being located geographically in the hurricane belt; economically in being highly dependent on external commodity trade or tourism for income and overall food security. Though there has been recent diversification into financial services in all countries, many depend primarily on single sectors such as Tourism, Agriculture or Minerals. . 

2. Food security issues in CARIFORUM countries are based on some important concerns, inter alia : (1)               current declines in foreign exchange earnings from traditional export crops, resulting in a reduced ability to purchase food2)               the erosion andthreatened loss of trade preferences for traditional export crops, the earnings of which are utilized for the purchase of imported food(3)               the very high dependence on imported food, and the recent uncertainty of food arrival potentially associated with events such as the September 11incidents in the United States; (4)               increasing incidence of pockets of poverty in many countries, implying that significant portions of the population have difficulty in accessing sufficient food; (5)               concerns over the potential association of the high use of imported food and the growing incidence in the region of food related diseases such as obesity; hypertension, cancer and diabetes; and (6)               an apparent overall decline in productivity of land, labour and management in the agricultural sector, and a weakened capacity to supply food competitively.

3. Despite declining contributions to GDP, the agricultural sector in all countries are important sources of livelihood, food security; employment and foreign exchange earnings. However, with few exceptions, food production has been unable to respond at competitive prices to demand, both in terms of volume of production and in terms of quality of produce. The agricultural sector, faced with low productivity and high costs has found it difficult to defend itself against strong competition from cheaper imports advantaged by regular transport facilities. Several of the CARIFORUM countries instituted structural adjustment policies in the eighties and nineties. The production structure of the sector has been affected by increasingly market oriented macro-economic policies – including privatisation; substantial reduction in Government support to the agricultural sector; removal of subsidies, etc. At the same time that these measures have resulted in smaller farms, they have also resulted in less government support to the sector, but greater demands for increased supply and marketing efficiency.

4. POLICY AND PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTSEconomic and Institutional PoliciesAmidst a number of regional initiatives - Creation of a Single Market and Economy market among CARICOM countries; Establishment of CARIFORUM, comprising the CARICOM countries and the Dominican Republic and Haiti, to act mainly as a co-ordination body for regional co-operation under the Lomé Convention; the Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) to negotiate the multilateral trade agreements; the Regional Transformation Programme (RTP) for agriculture., fisheries and forestry - most Governments have among their priorities three national food security relatedobjectives: i) higher levels of food self-sufficiency; ii) increased agricultural productivity; iii) increased diversification of agricultural production and export.

5. The achievement of greater food security in the CARIOFORUM Region involves challenges on the supply side as well as on the trade and food access side, and require a number of strategic policies to boost sectoral sectoral performance, and improved food access. :- Creation of a conducive macroeconomic, trade and sectoral policy framework for agricultural production growth; within multilateral agreements,- defending of market shares for traditional exports in the short to medium run by reducing costs and improving quality, presentation and timeliness, while examining the long run feasibility of each commodity; - enhancing the role of Fisheries in national and regional food security and economic development; strengthening programs targeted to vulnerable groups; establishing measures for compliance with SPS/TBT requirements for local, intra-regional; - measures to improve small farm productivity for improved food security through training, extension and research, and to encourage investment in infrastructure for production and marketing; - promotion of the values and variety of use of domestic staple foods within the context of food security policies.

6. B: OBJECTIVES, STRATEGY AND COST OF THE CARIFORUM PROGRAMME FOR FOOD SECURITY The CARIFORUM Special Programme for Food Security seeks to support some of these food security strategies within the context of the framework provided by the Regional Transformation Programme. The fundamental goal is to improve the food security supply and access of Caribbean States, individually and as a whole by improving productivity and incomes of smallholders and increasing the overall value of produce traded and consumed. Specifically, the programme will strengthen capacity to directly address constraints related to increasing trade (product quality, safety; policy formulation and competitiveness), and to increasing smallholder productivity; and through the development of appropriate foodpolicies.

7. The project has three related components:The Trade Facilitation component of the programme contains three sub-components:1.      Agricultural trade policy and Negotiations Capacity Enhancement; 2.      Commodity market information, marketing and trade development; 3.      Strengthening Agricultural Health and Food Safety Systems The Smallholder Enhancement component of the programme deals with measures to improve smallholder productivity and competitiveness, including:1.      Irrigation and related cropping systems; 2.      Demonstrations of improved production and processing technology; 3.      Training; 4.      Research; 5.      Extension 6.      Marketing.7.      Commodity identifications: vegetables; small ruminants; home gardening; fish handling; The Food Policies ComponentThe Food Policies component of the programme promotes the development of food policies which links nutrition and health outcomes to food policy decisions and food product development policy which promotes a healthy lifestyle. Te sub-component projects are:1.      Strengthening an effective and integrated food and nutrition monitoring system.2.      Participatory and knowledge development at household and community levels to support food, nutrition, health and agriculture interventions 3.      Nutrition education and communication programmes.4.       Multi-sectoral food policies development.

8. PROGRAMME STRATEGYThe programme will be coordinated by the CARICOM/CARIFORUM Secretariat with support of FAO-provided international experts, as required. The programme will seek to adhere as much as possible to existing procedures and coordinating mechanisms so as not to unduly burden the Secretariat. The programme will support the efforts under the Regional Transformation Programme (RTP) for Agriculture approved by the CARICOM Heads of Government in 1996.Other key strategic principles include:1.     The full involvement of the member states in addressing the various issues the programme intends to deal with. 2.     A supply focus on small farmers not only as the group most displaced by globalisation, but also as the core providers of staple foods for local consumption.3.     Participation of the private sector organisations and representatives of farmers associations, processors, traders, etc. in the development of market information; dissemination, and export promotion. Networking will be a key methodology in the development of information systems, dissemination, training and the preparation of industry development plans based around stakeholder groups; as well as in the establishment of policies, legislation and standards related to food, sanitary and phytosanitary. 4.     Adequate provision towards strengthening member states’ capacities to understand and implement multilateral trading agreement requirements. Strategic intervention will enhance the capacity of the CARICOM Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) to conduct analyses and determine joint negotiating positions for submission to multilateral trade negotiating bodies. 5.     The programme will link for mutual support to similar initiatives at the national (e.g. IFAD agriculture projects), and at regional levels. Where necessary, support will be provided in the formulation of other projects for donor funding taking into account their synergy with the assistance provided under this programme. It is recognised that, although the assistance would go a long way in addressing the constraints to enhanced trade and economic integration among CARICOM member states, further assistance will be required beyond the initial phase of three years. An extension of at least two years will be required to bring to logical conclusions of some of the programme activities and to consolidate programme achievements. Consideration of programme extension, however, should be based on the results of a Mid-term evaluation for which the programme has made provision.

9. BENEFICIARIES The main beneficiaries of the programme will be small farmers, traders, and consumers. Farmers will be able to intensify production, produce off-season, and ensure a more regular supply on the market, thereby deriving increased incomes. Home gardening farming will provide the most food insecure, including female-headed households, with improvements in diet through involvement in the production of food crops and small livestock. Consumers will benefit from more regular supplies, improved standards and better food quality. Lastly, the food security of countries of the region will be enhanced. Enhanced human resource capability through training and appropriate legislation will facilitate the work of national institutions established to facilitate trade, for example, in the processing and distribution of market information; sanitary and phytosanitary standards; and in trade policy analysis and implementation and trade negotiations. Overall, the RTP and the regional integration movement will benefit from programme activities.PROGRAMME COSTTF - $8.4 millionSFE – 15.2 millionFP – 1.4 millionPM – 1.2 millionTOTAL _ 26.2 millionISSUES AND RISKS1.      Levels of participation at farmer and trader levels2.      Associated provisions – credit; land tenure regularization; control of praedial larceny3.      Capacity of PMU (regional) and PMC (national) levels.4.      Water availability and provision for farming.5. Inability to control outbreaks of pests and diseases.