The COVID-19 pandemic has given Barbados a “perfect wake-up call” to take its food security seriously, chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul, has suggested.
He said the viral crisis had shown how critical the island’s agriculture was to its development, and called for more attention to be paid to agriculture.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Paul said: “Barbados cannot henceforth take food security for a joke and we need to produce adequate quantities of vegetables.
“We have been so hooked on the importation of even commodities that we can produce that when in situations like these when the production is not up we can see the consequences of it.
“That is why I have always called for more investment in agriculture so that we can be able to produce more of the foods that we consume. That way you would have a more stable price all year round.”
He pointed out that the recent rush for local fruits and vegetables also dispelled the notion that Barbadians fancied imported goods.
Paul said if local products were marketed as heavily as imported products, consumers would have no issues buying them.
With Prime Minister Mia Mottley having given the go-ahead for vendors to resume plying their trade, Barbadians in their numbers have been flocking to markets.
The BAS chief said: “I keep on saying that the only reason why that is probably the case is because we have marketed it that way for a long time in Barbados. If we continue to promote local vegetables more Barbadians will support the local farmers and buy more from the local farmers.
“We have to have a steady production, an increase in overall production and basically try to encourage more Barbadians to consume local produce.”
Paul said even though Barbados was experiencing a drought which has led to a scarcity of certain vegetables, he expected farmers to meet the high demand as the industry is more than capable of providing for the country.
He revealed a huge demand for sweet potatoes.
“I am very pleased to see the quantities of sweet potatoes for instance, which are being consumed right now in Barbados. I think that it belies too what we have been saying that Barbadians have a preference for imported produce,” Paul said.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb
