Dominica

<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><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; Trade Negotiations and Policy Reform Programme aims to strengthen the capacity of public and private sector stakeholders to engage in trade negotiations and formulate policies and regulations on emerging issues. These include investment facilitation, green trade, e-commerce/digitalization, including artificial intelligence, inclusive trade, sustainable and resilient value chains, industrialization, and multilateral and regional integration.</p><p><span style="color: rgb(44, 130, 201);">This project seeks to (a) bridge information asymmetries through knowledge-sharing activities that are made available, as global public goods; (b) pilot new and innovative approaches on emerging issues such as digital and sustainable trade; (c) increase visibility among beneficiary countries/donors and strengthen credibility as a leading technical partner for UN agencies and WTO; and (d) deliver small projects based on requests received by clients as a means to ensure ITC&apos;s relevance on the topics, maintain visibility, and serve as proof of concept to leverage funding opportunities under Window 2.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(44, 130, 201);">In 2024, the project focused primarily on &nbsp;digital and &nbsp;sustainable trade trends, with targeted interventions in the area of inclusive trade (i.e. youth), competition policy and investment facilitation. In 2025, with an allocation of only USD 100,000, the project will focus on a few low-cost, high-Impact initiatives. Digital trade, including artificial intelligence, green trade, and sustainable and resilient value chains will be prioritised. Proposed technical interventions include capacity-building, advisory support and dialogues on these critical issues, and some targeted support to strengthen domestic policy frameworks in response to developments in these areas.</span></p><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><p><a href="#_msoanchor_1"></a></p><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportAnnotations]--><p><a href="#_msoanchor_1"></a></p><p data-end="1488" data-start="1154">In designing and implementing this support, ITC draws on existing multilateral, regional, and bilateral trading frameworks to ensure a coherent and coordinated approach to domestic trade and investment policy reforms. This approach ensures that measures implemented are aligned with trade commitments and international best practices.</p><p data-end="1599" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="" data-start="1490">Activities under this project will be carried out based on requests received from countries and institutions.</p>

<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>