#BTColumn – Towards fostering food security

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Peter Webster

 “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” – (World Food Summit, 1996)

“Innovations that are guided by smallholder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and environment will be necessary to ensure food security in the future.” – Bill Gates

“Food security is at the baseline of human need. Without it, we cannot thrive, let alone survive.” – World Vision

World Vision has also postulated that Food Security is determined by four components:

•  Availability: “Does food exist near me?”

• Access: “Can I get to food easily?”

• Utilisation: “Will this food contribute to my health and well-being?”

• Stability: “Will food be available tomorrow, next week, next month?”

Unfortunately, it can be reasonably argued that “availability” hides what many think is the most important component of food security, which is “food production” and consequently “farmers”. Without farmers and their food production, “availability” of food would be nonexistent.

In addition, the cost and affordability factors are also important when we realise that most of the 1 billion people on our planet who are currently experiencing hunger are doing so because they have no means to pay for the food that exists, while transportation and distribution also contribute to “availability” and “access”. Food security is a complex, multifaceted goal for any community and one which needs to involve great caution in planning an integrated approach that must include the farmers (food producers) at every level.

The reality is that Barbados farmers cannot produce all the food we need to feed ourselves and we must look to other countries, preferably our neighbours, to produce and supply us with those foods which are in excess of their own requirements and that we cannot produce for ourselves.

The statistics show that Barbados’ farmers are producing most of the fresh vegetables and root crops which we currently consume – more than 50 per cent of which is now small farm production – and that we can produce all of our current consumption of such crops if the farmers were given the necessary guidance, support and coordination.

For example, the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation had an Information Technology data base system that contained a list of all the registered farmers and their location in Barbados and provided an ongoing updated record of all crop plantings and projected harvesting dates that would promote better coordination among farmers thereby reducing the peaks and troughs in the marketplace.  What has happened to this IT system and why?

Our local fruit crop production could also go a long way in meeting our needs but every initiative in fruit crop farming has been frustrated by our civil servants. Ffity years ago, the Scotland District was identified as the main fruit crop (Avocadoes, Acerola Cherries, Bananas, Breadfruit, Coconuts, Guava, Mangoes, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Sapodilla, Sour Sop, Sweet Sop, West Indian Lime, et al) production area in the island and the Soil Conservation Unit had planted nearly 100 acres of fruit crops that were to have been allocated to farmers.  Where are those farms now and why has there been no follow through?

It is in this situation that we must partner Guyana as a food supplier, but it would be a disastrous, knockout blow to our farmers and our food security if Guyana were to supply us with what our farmers are already producing (coals to Newcastle).

Has anybody identified the crops that we need from Guyana – Rice, Sugar, Corn, Sorghum, Soy Bean, Cassava, Peanuts, Pineapples et al – large volumes of which will be needed to feed our livestock and to replace wheat flour (including pasta) and white potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in our diet which now add up to more than $200 million annually.

Has anybody told the UWI and CARDI that research is needed to guide our feed manufacturers in replacing their imported crop inputs with more readily available local crops or to better adapt the production of such crops as Corn, Sorghum, white potatoes and Soybean in the region.

It is also surprising that a man like Bill Gates, and not our economists and politicians, recognises that we cannot have a free market situation for the agricultural products we produce other than within our country, because of the critical community linkages involved.

It is not just the farmers but their input suppliers, the Hucksters and Marketers, Handlers, Transporters and Processors. This is the reason why some countries so heavily subsidise, protect and support their farmers so that food prices are minimised for the poor while all the others linked to the farmers also benefit.

In any case, a free market situation is a two-way street.  Is Guyana prepared to accept food grown in Barbados?  It was a long time ago, but I remember helping to prepare a shipment of locally grown onions to Guyana, which was rejected in Guyana on the grounds that “these onions are too good to have been produced in Barbados”. Have things really changed?

Congratulations to the Government and the Hon. Minister
of Agriculture for recognising the need to make irrigation water available to farmers across Barbados, not just at River,
St. Philip, to improve our food security.  However, I am concerned at the way the official opening of the new Green Pond extension at River was reported in the press as if this was the whole package which was very misleading.

The six-million-gallon new Green Pond is supposed to be Phase I for about 12 farmers. The 82 farmers at River will need more than 60 million gallons of water for irrigation annually and the Government needs to tell the remaining 70 farmers who are still sorrowfully awaiting the other impoundments/water catchments when these will be completed.

What has happened to the Caribbean Development Bank’s US$10 million grant that was supposed to be used to construct Phase II. Could it be that the CDB’s $200 million Policy
Based Loan awarded in 2018 has not yet been dealt with, thereby limiting CDB’s “head room” in undisbursed balances to Barbados.

If so, it is high time that the Government start properly sanctioning the Civil Servants who are hindering our development, as this delay could cause the loss of the CDB grant allocation when the terminal approval date of that funding source at CDB is reached.

Round and round we go….

Peter Webster is a retired Portfolio Manager of the Caribbean Development Bank and a former Senior Agricultural Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture.