Two senior officials of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus are warning that if careful consideration is not given to how several industries are being developed they could end up competing for land space even as Goverment sought to achieve several goals.
This caution has come from Professor Wayne Hunte and Dr Damian Cohall, who explained that as Goverment sought to address the island’s food security concerns through agriculture, expand the renewable energy industry and develop a medical cannabis industry, they could all be competing for valuable land space.
Hunte said: “One of the interesting policy positions in Barbados is that Barbados wants to become, within a relatively short period of time, a hundred per cent energy efficient with renewable energies. That is a fine goal to get rid of the fossil fuel import bill and make our small contribution to controlling climate change.”
However, he said, “We have a land-based constraint. We are a small country and quite densely populated. So if your goal is renewable energy and you are thinking solar, that will take up space”.
From left, Dr Damian Cohall and Professor Wayne Hunte.
“If at the same time you want to be food secure, that takes up space. So you have agriculture in principle, competing for space with energy, and then you have the medical cannabis industry that we are pushing. That requires space,” he explained.
He said careful consideration must therefore be given to how the industries could best co-exist even as Goverment and individuals continued to seek out housing solutions.
“The question would be what crop would grow well under the solar panel cover. You could also do some research on whether medicinal cannabis would grow under a solar panel. So you try to make efficient use of your space,” he said.
“We really have to think holistically about how all of those competing goals can best be managed,” said Hunte.
Cohall, who is the Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, also shared similar concerns, warning that the issue of climate change and its impact should also be taken into consideration.
“Any Goverment that is considering establishing a new industry such as this [medical cannabis], especially an agricultural/health intersectoral link such as this, has to consider other important factors, not only local factors but global factors – food security and climate change – which are two serious issues affecting economies globally.
“So any industry going forward has to consider at least these two important factors or aspects. The industry has to be built out in such a way that agricultural land does not become an issue because it creates a food security issue,” he said.
Cohall believed the UWI was poised to carry out the required research that would lead to the options on how best the three areas could co-exist and not compete for land space.
It is not yet known, what amount of land space officials are aiming to put into cannabis production for the medical cannabis industry.
However, Goverment has also been promoting an increase in agriculture production. And while individuals and businesses are being encouraged to put solar panels on their roofs, several spaces have already been occupied with solar panels and more are being encouraged as the country seeks to achieve is 2030 goal of ridding the country of fossil fuel use.
Cohall said: “As it pertains to food security we also have to look at other opportunities where if we are considering hydroponics how can it be used to develop an ecosystem that could provide agricultural produce outside of cannabis”.
“A holistic approach has to be taken into consideration so that while trying to advance one industry we don’t create other issues,” he cautioned.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
