New Zealand aids CARICOM with $1.6 Million for food security project

The Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) aim to reduce food imported into the region by 25% by the year 2025 has received monetary assistance from the Government of New Zealand of 1.6 million USD. The fund agreement took place on the 28^th of February with a public statement on the 5^th of March. A Grant Fund Agreement in assistance for the project was signed on Wednesday the 28^th of February by CARICOM Secretary-General, DR. Carla Barnett, and the recently appointed plenipotentiary New Zealand Representative to CARICOM, Linda Charlotte Te Puni. This took place within the bounds of the 46^th annual CARICOM meeting at the Guyana Marriot in Georgetown. The food security project in question is titled CARICOM BOOST: Women and Youth in Agriculture, this venture is part of New Zealand’s diplomatic commitments to further cooperation and goodwill with CARICOM, the project will directly affect women and youth farmer groups in ten member states of CARICOM. Te Puni suggests New Zealand can assist the region in areas concerned with renewable energy, food security, transportation, disaster risk reduction, management of invasive species and facilitating greater collaborations between CARICOM and the Pacific Island Forum. The grant succeeds the cooperation agreement that took place between CARICOM and New Zealand in June of 2023. After Te Puni’s accreditation on the 1^st of February, her involvement in the Caribbean region and meetings with various diplomats were all shared through the NZ in the Caribbean Twitter page. New Zealand has taken pride in its Caribbean region involvement for more than just diplomatic reasons, the nation's most recent census suggests that over a third of its ethnically Caribbean population was born and raised in New Zealand. New Zealand has been ramping up its diplomatic ties with the region in recent times, partially due to the increase in the Ethnic Caribbean population on the island nation.

Recently Te Puni applauded the “valuable role” CARICOM plays in regional economic development and cited her nation's “long-term” commitment to the community. The Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship programme also provides opportunities for related knowledge sharing and skill development for Caribbean nationals.