The conversation surrounding food security has captured the attention of many sovereign states and more so for small island developing states in the last three years or so.
The covid19 pandemic has forced the conversation forward and at the recently concluded 37th Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean of Food and Agriculture Organization in Quito, Ecuador, several Caricom heads called for a policy to address rising food prices. Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, food security was paramount for the region, they added.
The idea of attaining regional food security was nothing new, said Jamaican High Commissioner Arthur HW Williams. Business Day sat down with him at his office in St Clair last week to get an insight into his country’s perspective into the topic.
He said the region was well equipped to grow and produce many of the foods imported and questioned why initiatives were not put in place to form stronger bilateral and multilateral partnerships in this regard.
“We have all the infrastructure, synergies, we eat mostly the same things across the Caribbean and so our food production can be significantly enhanced, providing we agree to trade with each other.
“Yes, Caricom has the master plan, but every territory must have their own plan. Food security is an age-old problem, it did not just arise with the pandemic and we as a region, as a people, are not doing enough. Hopefully, the pandemic would have taught us that we need to do more.”
For instance, he said there was no need to import livestock because the sector was capable of adequately meeting the demands, with the right investments.
“Why are we importing lamb? Do you know how much money the hotels in Jamaica spend importing products like lamb? Why can't we dent that market? Even if we cannot supply for the vast majority right now; it would be a step towards production and the more we produce the less we import.”
Additionally, he pointed out that farmers needed to be adequately looked after to ensure that they were not discouraged from feeding the region’s population.
Williams said too many times farmers were given promises for investments and infrastructure, yet they continued to be neglected.
“There are so many areas that one could look at in terms of reducing the region’s food import bill.
“We have to guarantee our farmers that when they go out to plant they have somewhere to sell. Too often they have gone out, taken their savings and invested in production and when the time came for sales there were all kinds of sad stories (from commercial buyers).”
[caption id="attachment_947421" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Jaiye Jack leads his goats home from grazing in Charlotteville, Tobago. - JEFF K MAYERS[/caption]
So then, how can this be achieved? The FAO has reported the agri-sector contributed between nine and 35 per cent of the gross domestic product in Latin America and Caribbean states and 25 per cent of their exports.
One sure wa
