NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Country Representative Daniela Carrera Marquis recently visited Minister for Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs Clay Sweeting to discuss a number of initiatives geared toward The Bahamas’ goal of food security.
Among those in attendance was Parliamentary Secretary Leonardo Lightbourne.
During the meeting held at the ministry, Marquis noted that the IDB has examined numerous funding opportunities.
“We have several projects that are related to agribusiness already,” she said.
“We have a project that is in Grand Bahama and it’s about managing the sustainability of conch with the local communities. That project is being implemented through the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) and it was very much affected by both Dorian and COVID-19.
“We have extended it so that we can [get] some more relevant results there and so that we can allow them to have a real source of living, but in a sustainable way to help them to protect the conch.
“We were also looking at fisheries because The Bahamas has so many coastal areas and fisheries is just a small part of it. We were on the basis of analyzing and refining it, but now we need the input of the new government to see if this is something of interest.
“We were looking at the legal framework and potential land development based on what is out there. We just thought of fisheries because The Bahamas, based on the coasts, has a very small fishery industry compared to other countries that have the same mass.”
Marquis mentioned that the IDB is also keen on the development of agribusiness in The Bahamas.
“We are also looking for ways to bring agribusiness from the Family Islands, like growth of produce and how to make them commercially viable,” she said.
“We’ve been looking into SMEs that can be transformative in the area of agribusiness not just in New Providence but in the rest of the Family Islands.”
Marquis said the IDB is also hoping to offer opportunities for expansion in the Family Islands.
“We were looking into something called the Family Islands investment funds to see if there was a way to bring a critical mass of investment that could really trigger private sector investment not just from The Bahamas but internationally,” she said.
Additionally, the IDB developed an energy loan designed to generate more energy in the Family Islands.
Sweeting said he was pleased with Marquis’ suggestions because they fall in line with the mandate of the ministry, adding that the government is “looking forward to collaborating…to increase development in the Family Islands” in respect to tourism, marine resources, agriculture and renewable energy.
He also said he was pleased that the IDB is interested in developing fishing.
“The investment in fishing is definitely something that we must continue to capitalize on,” he said.
“It has been an astronomical year in fisheries but there are other markets, such as stone crab and other sources of fish, that we can possibly export as well as to sell domestically.”
He added: “I am hoping that within the first quarter, we can put something together, whether it’s investment opportunities, research or development to see what the possible scenarios are where the IDB can facilitate some of our goals at the ministry.”
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