In addition, the World Bank asserts that investments in agriculture are necessary to help reduce poverty. “ ‘Agriculture alone will not be enough to massively reduce poverty, but poverty reduction will not happen without agriculture.’ The Bank estimated that agricultural sector growth positively impacts on the incomes of poorest people two to four times more than the economic growth of other sectors.”

This is how Dr Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations puts it: “Runaway food prices gave the world a wake-up call last year. Two weeks ago, another alarm went off: UN food agencies reported that the world’s hungry have surpassed one billion in number. Two hundred and sixty-five million of these people are in sub-Saharan Africa—an increase of almost 12 per cent over last year.”

“These alarms tell us that our system of growing, distributing, and selling food is not serving us well.”

“The poor and most vulnerable bear the brunt of this dysfunction. In developing countries, poor families typically spend 60 per cent or more of their household budgets on food. This leaves little margin for error. When prices soar, as they did last year, or when incomes contract, as they have in 2009, food can become unaffordable.”

According to WHO, the global food security crisis endangers the lives of millions of people, particularly the world’s poorest who live in countries already suffering from acute and chronic malnutrition.

It said multiple factors are behind the crisis, including:

* rapidly increasing energy prices;

* lack of agricultural sector investment;

* rapidly rising demand for food arising from economic growth and higher incomes;

* trade distorting subsidies;

* recurrent bad weather and environmental degradation;

* subsidised production of bio-fuels that substitute food production;

* imposition of export restrictions leading to hoarding and panic buying.

WHO also noted that the health implications are immense, particularly in the 21 countries which it says suffer from acute or chronic malnutrition.

In addition it is estimated that by 2011 the world’s population would grow by six billion which would put enormous pressures on agricultural resources to provide an adequate supply of food to the world’s populace.

Therefore, the search for a solution to the food security dilemma must focus on a long term solution or else there could be dire consequences, particularly for the poor.

OAS Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin alluded to this recently, declaring: “There is no doubt that food security is a significant issue that must be country-driven and focused at the local and community level,” he said. “We must place food security as a long-term top priority in this hemisphere, not only to address needs now, but to prevent a worsening situation in the near future,” he warned.

Credit must be given to our government for recognising the above a long time ago and thus it shifted into top gear with respect to the increased production, expansion and diversification in the agricultural sector.

President Jagdeo, who has lead responsibility for agriculture in CARICOM has been emphasising the importance of food security at local, regional and international fora and has made vociferous calls and is working assiduously towards the repositioning of agriculture to the front burner in this region.

In view of the critical and crucial importance of global food security it would be hoped that there will be tangible, relevant proposals and decisions would emerge from the outcome of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Organisation of American States (OAS) a high level food security conference scheduled for October in Washington D.C.