GEORGETOWN – Solutions to rising food prices and market access for Caribbean bananas will be some of the key agenda items when agriculture ministers and other officials from across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) meet in St Vincent and the Grenadines this week.

The five-day CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development meeting coincides with Caribbean Week of Agriculture from Monday to Saturday.

A statement from the Georgetown-based CARICOM Secretariat said initiatives "to tackle the soaring food prices," would be a central focusof the talks.

Also expected to dominate the discussions is the matter of the implementation of a common fisheries regime, as well as ongoing challenges to the region's traditional protected market for bananas in Europe.

"That critical sector in CARICOM and the wider Caribbean will be in the spotlight when policy makers, entrepreneurs and (the) media gather . . . for a week-long focus," the release stated.

It said the packed agenda for both the officials and ministers would include issues pertaining to the removal of constraints "to give effect to the Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture".

The cost of essential food items has increased dramatically over the past year and has triggered riots in several countries around the world, including deadly protests in Haiti in March and April that eventually led to the ouster of the then prime minister, Jacques Edouard Alexis.

Many experts blame the global crisis on a shift by farmers from food to ethanol production in a bid to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

In addition, global warming, supply and demand issues, and climate change have also been identified as contributing factors.