Agricultural safeguards a must

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir is expressing grave concern about the impact climate change could have on the island’s food security.

Disclosing that one farmer lost close to four dozen sheep last year due to drought conditions, Weir told an agriculture conference this morning that the threats climate change continue to pose stood to wipe out any gains.

As a result, he said Government has already started to put measures in place to make the sector more resilient.

Weir was addressing a regional workshop on Climate Finance and Support Mechanisms for Resilient Agriculture Sector in the Caribbean at the Radisson Aquatica when he told participants that his ministry was aware that a number of factors were posing a challenge to the island’s food security including pests, lack of education, flooding and drought.

“There is a close balance between water and plants, water and agriculture. Too little water will result in stunted growth, and too much water will also impact growth. We know this. This equally will impact our livestock,” said Weir.

“This is well document because I have actual proof that throughout the drought period last year one black belly sheep farmer literally lost 46 heads due to the drought. This speaks to the seriousness of the matter,” he said.

“What is before us is a challenge. It is a very complex situation, but one that we must seek to manage,” he added.

Pointing to the need for ongoing education and communication, Weir said this was necessary so that problems could be easily identified and solutions developed.

“We have started the process with the University of the West Indies and we have looked at bio-digestion and of course, we have looked at biodiversity. It is a hardcore reality that we must address climate change, but in doing so we cannot leave the most vulnerable behind,” he said.

“That is why I have been speaking to climate smart agriculture. In climate smart agriculture what you are able to do is transition a mindset from the past to that which is relevant to our 21st century requirement that says we must all now come together and collaborate in terms of how we find the financing to be able to support a new type and way to do agriculture,” he said.

The Agriculture Minister said it was also necessary for public and private sector stakeholders to collaborate to provide education programmes and help people understand the impact of climate change on food production and get them to do the things necessary for us to build resilience.

Pointing to steps being taken by Government to protect the sector, Weir highlighted plans to plant one million trees over the next couple of years in the Scotland District and via various farming programmes across the island.

Ena Harvey, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) representative for Barbados, said the region’s agriculture remained under severe threat from a variety of issues relating to climate change as well as organisms.

“As we all know, our Caribbean nations are victims rather than perpetrators of the climate change impacts. Our agro-food sectors remain severely threatened by climatic events,” she said.

“Climate change has brought new invasive species, loss of biodiversity, drought, loss of top soil – real threats to our food and nutrition security,” she warned.

She said IICA was working with regional partners to mitigate the risks associated with climate change and build resilience so that our member states not only bounce back but bounce forward in a sustainable way.

Adding that work was being done through capacity building and training, she said the support was needed trhough private and public sector partnerships, national, regional and international initiatives.

According to Harvey, this was necessary “to promote production integration, cross border investment and knowledge exchange across the Caribbean”.

During the three-day workshop, which has attracted some 40 agriculture stakeholder representatives from the region, participants will identify and discuss priority areas in the sector and come up with ways to encourage more investment to support climate resilient action.

They will also seek to come up with ways to enhance coordination among policymakers and private sector players.