BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — High-level agriculture ministers from across the Caribbean have gathered to advance a groundbreaking capital-first strategy for overhauling the region’s food systems, repositioning the agricultural sector as a strategic, high-potential asset class for global and local investors.
Hosted by the United Nations Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean office, the one-day Food Systems Investment Forum held Tuesday brought together senior regional government representatives, leaders from international financial institutions, private sector investors, and global development partners under the central theme “Mobilising Equity Capital for Resilient Food Systems in the Caribbean.”
Following the conclusion of the forum, officials announced the official launch of a new UN-curated Deal Book, which showcases 320 million U.S. dollars worth of fully vetted, investment-ready opportunities spanning every segment of the Caribbean’s food systems. The curated resource is designed to sustain the deal-making momentum built during the event and create structured connections between institutional investors and regional food and agriculture enterprises.
In his opening address titled “From Policy to Capital Deployment,” Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, emphasized the critical urgency of closing the persistent financing gap holding back Caribbean food systems and unlocking new streams of private equity. Springett outlined long-standing structural challenges facing the sector: overall capital flows remain misaligned with development needs, most financing is limited to concessional loans or donor grants, and long-term patient equity capital is largely absent from the market. Compounding this issue, he noted that most private regional capital is currently diverted to non-productive sectors such as real estate, rather than flowing into the food economy that supports local livelihoods and food security.
Springett called on Caribbean national governments to strengthen regulatory and policy environments to attract investment, while urging private investors to recognize the growing pipeline of viable opportunities across agriculture, fisheries, food processing, and cold chain logistics. “The opportunity is here. Capital exists. But they are not connected in a structured and meaningful way,” he explained. “This forum is designed to change that…through a different kind of conversation — one that starts with capital: how investors assess risk, what makes a project bankable and what actually unlocks deals.”
John Morris, Chairman of International Asset Management and Managing Partner of the regional CaribGROW Fund, echoed the call for expanded equity participation, noting that well-managed Caribbean food businesses with proven revenue streams and defensible market positions are fully capable of delivering competitive financial returns. Drawing an analogy to the U.S. New York Knicks basketball team, Morris framed the challenge as a structural one, not a lack of viable opportunity: “The challenge is not the opportunity, the challenge is capital.”
Morris compared regional capital markets to a team sport, where sustained success depends on diverse stakeholders collaborating to build a robust ecosystem. He acknowledged that multilateral institutions, development finance bodies, regional banks, and national governments have already laid critical groundwork for investment, but emphasized that equity remains the missing core component. “Equity is where ownership, wealth creation and wealth retention live,” he said, warning that without access to equity capital, local businesses cannot scale and remain permanently vulnerable to foreign acquisition. By contrast, he explained, his fund’s model of taking minority stakes allows local families and stakeholders to retain control of their businesses, keeping generated wealth within the Caribbean region.
Barbados’ Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight highlighted the widespread shared commitment to action among all participants, noting that the conversation around Caribbean food systems has evolved far beyond a narrow focus on production alone. “This is an acknowledgement that we have come here to do something big and that is important. I also see in the room, people of like minds who I do not have to convince of the importance of the conversation,” she said.
Framing food systems as one of the most consequential economic and development opportunities for the entire Caribbean, Munro-Knight urged both public sector leaders and private investors to recognize the sector’s transformative potential. “If you want an equation that answers one of the most fundamental challenges facing this region, our food security, while also enabling social and structural economic transformation, then you’re in the right place at the right time,” she stated.
Drawing a parallel to the groundbreaking Bridgetown Initiative for climate finance, she stressed that “meeting the moment” requires innovative, equitable partnerships that center Caribbean voices as equal stakeholders and reimagine how investment capital is structured and delivered. She pointed to large-scale, investable projects across the sector including logistics infrastructure, agro-processing facilities, cold chain networks, digital agricultural transformation, and agritech innovation. “These are investable opportunities, big investable opportunities,” she said, issuing an open invitation to private sector partners to collaborate with regional governments. “We’ve come to the table, meet us with your capital.”
Unlike traditional industry conferences that focus only on policy dialogue, the 2024 Food Systems Investment Forum was designed to drive tangible action, facilitating direct one-on-one engagement between investors and government leaders, showcasing pre-vetted investment opportunities, and advancing active transaction negotiations and cross-sector partnerships. Attendees took part in investor-focused roundtables, thematic breakout sessions, and bilateral deal meetings all aimed at accelerating capital deployment and scaling initiatives to build more climate and food-resilient regional food systems. By centering equity capital, blended finance structures, and market-driven solutions, the forum seeks to unlock the full economic and resilience potential of Caribbean food systems while advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals across the region.