Caribbean Investment Forum Magazine

Millions to be Invested in The Caribbean’s Agribusiness Sector

2022

he Caribbean is making concerted e ff orts to increase local agricultural p r o d u c t i o n a n d r e d u c e t h e dependency on imported products. This creates s igni fi cant oppor tuni t ies for investment in agribusiness and the AgTech industry and investors from throughout the world are noticing. T In the Caribbean, 26 agribusiness projects with an FDI volume of $919.1 million were implemented between 2003 and 2020 (fDi Markets). The Caribbean is a $369 billion market with 30 million local consumers and 30 million a ff luent visitors to the region each year - a number that is growing annually as t he t ou r i sm i ndu s t r y expand s . The combination of local consumers and tourist demand makes the Caribbean’s agribusiness sector highly attractive, as does the region’s unique growing climate. In addition to growing food for local consumpt ion, investors are seeing pro fi ts from growing high-value crops like mushrooms for export. An Agri-Investment Forum and Expo was held in Guyana in May of 2022 to highl ight these opportuni t ies, and to encourage the move towards more agricultural independence. The “Agri Investment Forum and Expo: Investing in Vision 25 by 2025”, was organized by the Government of Guyana and the CARICOM Secretariat. During the forum, stakeholders agr eed to a l l ocate e ff or t s towards addressing food insecur ity, improving regional transportation (something the Caribbean Development Bank has pledged support for), removing any trade barriers,

and supporting agricultural projects led by women and youth. Investors can play a key role in helping the Caribbean to transition from importing much of their food products to producing and manufacturing them at home.

CURACAO IS ONE OF THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS MOVING TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE, LOCALLY-GROWN FOOD

I n 201 7 , Cu racao ' s gove r nment approved a pol icy memorandum that p r omo t e s s u s t a i n a b l e a g r i c u l t u r a l development and includes replacing 5% of imported foods with locally grown food each year, for fi ve years. To support the increase in locally-grown food products, the Institute of Professional Excellence and the University of the West Indies has o ff ered the farming training program to local farmers and entrepreneurs with a focus on hydroponic and syntropic farming processes. Since 2016, over 100 farmers have been trained, resulting in successful projects throughout the island, several of which are looking for investors. They include a vertical hydroponic farm growing cold-weather crops, a solar powered production facility, and expanded farming.

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