While agriculture and fisheries are crucial sectors for food security, employment and exports (including through the tourism market) in the Caribbean, their direct contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) varies greatly. Belize, Guyana and Haiti see a larger contribution of agriculture and fisheries to GDP, whereas many of the other states have a lower contribution, with other sectors often dominating, particularly in the services-driven and industrialised (oil and gas) economies. This leads to a mean contribution of 3–5 per cent across Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
In June 2024, the Commonwealth Secretariat, with the Government of Barbados, in close collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and CARICOM and other partners, convened a regional multi-stakeholder dialogue in Barbados that made recommendations on how to put in place an enabling environment for collaborative interventions among institutions engaged in agricultural data management so they can design, establish and start the implementation of a National Agricultural Data Infrastructure (NAgDI) in countries in the Caribbean region.
