The Brussels Development Briefing on ‘Building resilience of SIDS through trade and agribusiness development‘, was held on Friday 11 July 2014, at Borschette in Brussels. This 37th Briefing took place in the context of 2104 as the year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the upcoming UN Conference on Small Island Developing States (1-4 September 2014, Apia, Samoa).
The panel was organised by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), in collaboration with the European Commission, the ACP Secretariat and CONCORD. It was composed of speakers who have extensive expertise in business, trade and agriculture in ACP small islands, representing regional and international institutions, farmers’ organisations, the private sector, development partners and academia. They discussed the vulnerabilities and challenges experienced by small islands, and explored the opportunities and achievements of the agritrade sector in ACP SIDS.
Small islands face a greater risk of marginalization due to the combined adverse consequences of their small size, remoteness from large markets and high economic vulnerability to economic and natural shocks beyond domestic control. The Briefing gave an overview of the main challenges and opportunities for agribusiness development in SIDS. It will also discussed some best practices in agribusiness in ACP regions and strategies to identify new opportunities especially through innovative partnerships.
New! “Supporting Pacific Agri-Food Recovery” side event at the 2015 European Development Days, 04 June 2015
New! on the subject of ‘SIDS and Agribusiness Development’
Video recording of the Briefing
Introduction and Opening of the Briefing
Isolina Boto, Manager, CTA Brussels Office [video]
Introductory remarks
Honorable Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, Secretary General, ACP Secretariat [video]; Pedro Henriques, International Relations Officer, DG DEVCO, European Commission [video]; Michael Hailu, Director, CTA [video]
Panel 1: Drivers to enhance trade resilience and agribusiness development in SIDS
Small islands face a greater risk of marginalization due to the combined adverse consequences of their small size, remoteness from large markets and high economic vulnerability to economic and natural shocks beyond domestic control. This panel will give an overview of the main challenges and opportunities for agribusiness development in SIDS.
Chair: H.E. Dr. Len Ishmael, Ambassador of Eastern Caribbean States (ECS) [video]
Panelists:
– Resilience to economic shocks: Lessons learned across SIDS
Lino Briguglio, Economics Professor, Director Islands and Small States Institute (Univ. of Malta) [Video|Presentation|Summary]
– Key implications for ACP SIDS in the context of the Doha Development round
Stephen Fevrier, Trade Adviser, Commonwealth Small States Office in Geneva [Video|Presentation|Summary]
– Agricultural trade opportunities in the Pacific: from policies to practice
Veniana Qalo, Senior Trade Policy Specialist, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat [Video]
– Building resilience through trade and green growth
Ambassador Edwin Laurent, Senior Advisor, The Caribbean Green Economy Initiative [Video|Presentation]
– Support for trade resilience and successes in improving business in Eastern Caribbean States
Randolph Cato, Consultant, Eastern Caribbean States [Video|Presentation|Summary]
Panel 2: Learning from successes in agribusiness in ACP countries
This panel will discuss some best practices in agribusiness in ACP regions and strategies to identify new opportunities especially through innovative partnerships.
Chair: H.E. Fatumanava Dr. Pa’olelei Luteru, Ambassador of Samoa [video]
Panelists:
– Successes in agribusiness in the Caribbean and lessons learned
Escipión Oliveira, Deputy Executive Director, Caribbean Export Development Agency [Video|Presentation|Summary]
– Farm to table: opportunities and connections between farms and the tourism industry
Mereia Volavola, CEO, Pacific Islands Private Sector Organization (PIPSO) [Video|Presentation|Summary]
– Successes in accessing export markets for root crops and lessons learned
Maria Lailai Moi, Director, Ben’s Trading Ltd, Fiji [Video|Presentation|Summary]
– Linking small farmers with agribusiness: niche markets and branding strategies
Shadel Nyack Compton, Managing Director, Belmont Estate, Grenada [Video|Presentation|Summary]
Conclusion
Michael Hailu, Director of CTA [video]
Current and previous work by the CTA on Small Island Economies includes:
– Brussels Briefing n.27 on Small Island Economies http://brusselsbriefings.net/past-briefings/small_island_economies/
– High Level Panel on Resilience of SIDS in the context of the IFPRI 2020 Vision Initiative http://brusselsbriefings.net/past-briefings/agricultural-resilience/cta-high-level-panel-ifpri-2020/
– Capacity4Dev Building Resilience of Small Island Economies
Other resources on Small island economies:
– SciDevNet: Draft text for small island summit ‘lacks science http://www.scidev.net/global/policy/news/draft-text-for-small-island-summit-lacks-science.html
Brussels Development Briefings 
2 thoughts on “37. SIDS agribusiness”