CASTRIES, St. Lucia: OECS Ministers of Agriculture will meet in Antigua and Barbuda on Thursday, March 31 to put new energy into efforts to reposition the vital agriculture sector, and reverse its declining contribution to economic activity in the sub-region. Agricultural Economist at the OECS Secretariat George Alcee says the Ministers will have before them the Agricultural Policy Framework and Plan of Action which was approved by OECS Heads of Government at the last Authority meeting in the BVI in November 2004. “The ministers endorsed the Strategic Framework and Plan of Action in 2003 and the OECS Authority has approved it. The Ministers are very eager to see agriculture repositioned because we know that agriculture has been declining. ECCB reports indicated that it contracted by 4.4 percemt in 2003 and we are all eager to reverse the decline, to stabilize agriculture and work towards the continuous growth of the sector,” said Alcee The challenges of the global environment, adverse weather conditions, the domestic deficiencies, and lack of institutional capacity of Ministries of Agriculture, have all impacted on the performance of the sector. To this end the Agricultural Policy Framework and Plan of Action outlines nine programme areas with expected outputs. The Ministers will elaborate on a full work programme to implement these areas, and get the commitment of support institutions and agencies in an effort to enhance the vital industry. The programme areas include: Developing an effective and efficient marketing system; Strengthening the capabilities of the agricultural health and food safety systems in the Member States to meet the challenges of trade; To improve availability, quality, and management systems for water in agriculture; Mitigating the long term effects of natural and man made hazards on agriculture production; Encourage improved cooperation and collaboration of the farming community and other agri-business concerns in agricultural development; Increasing the flow of investment (credit) to the agriculture sector; Assisting in the development of land use planning and agricultural diversification; Promote incentive measures for efficient and effective production and marketing of agricultural products; and Fostering the best linkages between agriculture and tourism Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Mr. Baldwin Spencer and OECS Director General Dr. Len Ishmael will address the opening ceremony at the Grand Royal Antiguan Beach Resort. The Ministers meeting will be preceded by a meeting of technical officials on March 30. Reprinted from Caribbean Net News caribbeannetnews.com