Antigua and Barbuda

<p>A quadruple shock of COVID, climate change, conflict, and cost-of-living have pushed the topic of food security and the need for collective action to the top of the global agenda. In the Caribbean, food security is a complex issue influenced by climate change, economic challenges, trade policies, and agricultural practices. Key concerns include the region&apos;s vulnerability to climate events, heavy reliance on food imports, limited agricultural productivity due to infrastructure and technique limitations, the impact of tourism on food security, and health problems tied to dietary patterns and access to nutritious foods.</p><p>In this context, this project aims to support agri-MSMEs, cooperatives and producers (smallholder farmers and fishers) to become more competitive and resilient through value addition, diversification and new market development at the regional level. The overall objective is to contribute to incomes, sustainability &amp; resilience as well as to improve food security, nutrition and healthier diets in the Caribbean region.</p>

<p>SheTrades Commonwealth + project aims to foster an enabling business ecosystem by promoting inclusive policy and data and engaging business support organizations, private-sector partners, and women-led businesses in the Commonwealth countries. <span>&nbsp;</span>The project will focus on scalability and immediate results by strengthening the functionalities and diversifying services of the SheTrades Initiative globally through SheTrades Outlook and SheTrades Hubs. This project will build upon the previous phase of the SheTrades Commonwealth project that has been ongoing since 2018, over which time sustainable networks of stakeholders at both ecosystem and SME levels have been built and sustained.&nbsp;</p>

<p><span data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US">The Caribbean is known for great food, music and the arts. ITC through the UK Trade Partnerships Programme is leveraging existing trade partnerships across the region to grow exports in the specialty foods sector and creative industries.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p>The ITC&rsquo;s Supporting Trade Negotiations and Policy Reform Programme seeks to strengthen the capacity of public and private sector stakeholders to contribute to trade negotiations and policy/regulatory formulation on emerging matters relating to facilitating investment, green trade, e-commerce/digitalization, inclusive trade, sustainable and resilient value chains, industrialization plans, strengthened multilateral and regional integration, and other trade and investment policy issues identified as relevant for a conducive business environment.</p><p>Through this project, ITC will, in relation to the topics mentioned above, seek to (a) generate awareness/understanding of stakeholders through information-sharing/awareness-raising engagements; (b) capacitate stakeholders to engage in informed and inclusive trade and investment policy and regulatory reforms; and (c) support domestic trade and investment policy reforms through technical studies/analyses and related advisory support to facilitate implementation of reforms, including undertaking legislative/regulatory reforms.</p><p>In designing and implementing such support, ITC builds upon the multilateral and regional/bilateral trading frameworks in place to ensure there is a coherent and coordinated approach to domestic trade and investment policy reforms and that measures implemented are aligned with trade commitments undertaken and/or international best practices in this regard.</p><p>The activities implemented under this project will be based on requests received from countries/institutions.<!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><a href="#_msocom_1" language="JavaScript" name="_msoanchor_1"></a><a href="#_msocom_2" language="JavaScript" name="_msoanchor_2"></a><!--[endif]--></p><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><a href="#_msoanchor_1"></a>

<p><span data-contrast="none">ITC&rsquo;s trade and market intelligence interventions in the 24 UK Trade Partnerships Programme countries will consist of several interrelated components</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">to foster transparency and &nbsp;enhanced access</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;to information on trade opportunities and market access requirements <span data-contrast="none">for small and medium</span><span data-contrast="none">-</span><span data-contrast="none">sized e</span><span data-contrast="none">nterprises</span></span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">. This will be done</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;through</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;data</span><span data-contrast="none"> sharing, capacity building, and</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;the</span><span data-contrast="none"> setting up of&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">trade&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">obstacle alert mechanisms.</span></p>

<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The ITC T4SD Hubs act as a <strong>one-stop shop offering integrated sustainability solutions supporting SMEs to transition to a green economy</strong>. The T4SD Hubs are a 5 year project implemented in 7 countries/regions: the Caribbean, Ghana, Kenya, Laos, Nepal, Peru and Viet Nam.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The offering of the T4SD Hubs is structured around 5 thematic areas under which awareness raising workshops, e-learnings and customized coaching programmes are offered to <strong>build the business case for implementing sustainable business practices:&nbsp;</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">These thematic areas include:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Compliance with Voluntary Sustainability Standards&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Resource efficiency and circular production&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Climate resilience&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Positioning sustainable products in the international market&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Access to green finance&nbsp;</span></li></ul><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Besides the piloting of the service offering to built the necessary technical capacity, the T4SD Hub team supports the T4SD Hub hosts in building the needed management capacity and structures to roll out the service offering.</span></p>

<p>The overall objective of the Action (Alliances for Coconut Industry Development for the Caribbean Phase II) is to enhance competitiveness of small-scale farmers in coconut value chains through more sustainable production and commercialization performance and better local, regional, and global markets integration. This involves the implementation of an integrated and coordinated approach that results in enhanced competitiveness and resilience for the farmers, MSMEs and VC operators involved in coconut and associated crops value chains.</p><p align="JUSTIFY" dir="LTR">The proposal takes into consideration the outcomes, lessons learned and experiences gained during the implementation of phase I and aims to consolidate and increase its impact, scale, scope and sustainability. Following ITC&rsquo;s participatory process, phase II project proposal was officially endorsed by the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and by the CARIFORUM Directorate.</p>