The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States has developed a plan to revive the region’s agricultural sector and reduce the amount spent on food imports, the Dominica government said Tuesday. In the last 10 years, the seven OECS member-states have seen their collective bill for food imports double to $480 million, the government said in a statement. The OECS Council of Agriculture Ministers has developed a plan that calls for governments to give preference to produce from domestic farmers when purchasing food for school meal programs. OECS comprises Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Montserrat. Martinique, Anguilla and British Virgin Islands are associate members.
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