Food security for the Caribbean has never before commanded the top priority of its leaders as global supplies of key ingredients of our diet are becoming increasing expensive, in short supply or wilting in the extreme temperatures as mega-farmers battle the effects of climate change.
Next month, as part of the Caricom initiative this country will host an agriculture investment forum aimed at encouraging investors to meet a laudable goal of reducing the almost US$5 billion food import bill by 25 per cent in the next three years.
Business Day sat down with mega-farmer Joe Pires, managing director of Caribbean Chemicals, recently for a wide-ranging interview at his Aranguez head office to get his views on the latest initiative. He pulled no punches, as he was both optimistic and pessimistic about something he has been speaking about for the past 30 years.
The agriculture summit will be held from August 19-21, at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain and it aims "to revolutionise the agricultural sector in Trinidad and Tobago and by extension across Caricom member states.
"An important part of its agenda is to strengthen linkages along the food value and distribution chains in order to make locally-produced food more affordable and attractive throughout the country. Furthermore, the event will also highlight the use of technology to modernise current agricultural practices, increase efficiency and improve safety across the sector," according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
[caption id="attachment_966981" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Managing director of Caribbean Chemicals Joe Pires during an interview at his Aranguez office, on July 20. - Darren Bahaw[/caption]
It will comprise two main components: a forum and an exhibition. The forum provides an opportunity for multilateral engagement, as it facilitates the creation of relationships and allows for interaction between representatives from Caricom, and the public and private sectors.
Pires said the first stark warning of how vulnerable the Caribbean's food security came after the terror attacks in the US in September 2001, when all shipping ports in the US were shut down for a month, and the ripple effect saw no fresh produce or frozen items coming from this country's largest supplier in the ensuing three months.
"That impacted us immediately, and I know a lot of people might have forgotten that. And I started talking about if a world war came, if other things came that would impact our food security, how would it affect us.
"And we're once again living in it. The issue for me has always been a leadership issue, unfortunately, and I'm looking at it as a overall system."
[caption id="attachment_966989" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Vendors move goods through Central Market in Port of Spain while early morning shoppers choose their produce. - Jeff Mayers[/caption]
Over 50 years ago, when the US exchange rate was under $4 to US$1, the food import bill for this country stood at US$250-US$300 million but now it has climbed to a staggering U
