With international support…
THE need for urgency and the importance of food security in the region were underscored yesterday by Guyana Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Robert Persaud.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop, for the formulation of a regional policy on food and nutrition security in the Caribbean, he declared that time is running out for the region in dealing, very seriously, with the issue of food security.

Persaud secured endorsement of his stance at the Princess Hotel, Providence, East Bank Demerara forum, a collaborative effort by the CARICOM Secretariat, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Government of Italy and the European Commission (EC).

In attendance are participants from CARICOM Member States, international agencies, private sector representatives and other stakeholders.

Persaud, underlining its import, said statistics show that the region’s food import bill, which stood at about US$1.5 billion in 1995, is now about US$4 billion.

“What we have seen is a dramatic increase, in terms of our dependence and, certainly, it speaks to a growing food insecurity situation in the region,” he said.

Persaud noted that trend is showing at a time when countries and the region, as a whole, are speaking much more.

However, he said: “If we look at the statistics and the real situation on the ground, we haven’t yet really started that journey.”

Persaud reminded that, during 2007 and 2008, the food crisis jerked not only the region but the international community, regional institutions and world leaders to recognise that there is a problem and it led to a number of subsequent activities.

“Historically, we saw that the international financial institutions and even development assistance to agriculture declined drastically, so much so that, if you look on some of the profiles of bilateral and multilateral development assistance programmes, agriculture did not feature,” he pointed out.

Persaud said there is now a reversal of that occurrence, with the World Bank and some of the big donors incorporating programmes targeting agriculture.

Recognising the leadership of the FAO, he asked: “But, regionally, what have we done differently and what have we been able to achieve. What evidence is out there that we can show to our people and our region that, in fact, we are very serious about tackling the region’s food insecurity?”

Persaud posited that the region is faced with a number of threats to food security, including the impact of climate change, with many countries experiencing natural disasters which can reverse the gains made in agriculture production and general economic development.

People’s interest
He alluded to people’s interest in food production and the inability to get young people involved in agriculture, as well as what is taking place in the economies.

Persaud said there is a window of opportunity, with international financial institutions and influential leaders putting the issue of food security and agriculture on the agenda.

He said the G8 countries have just made available a set of resources and pondered: “How are we preparing ourselves to tap those resources or to benefit from those opportunities?”

Persaud said that is why the earlier the region gets its act together, the better positioned it will be.

“We are now talking or moving towards formulating what we call the regional policy for food and nutrition but how quick can we move from the formulation to the implementation,” he enquired.

“Are our leaders, technicians, private sector and all stakeholders fully committed to that task, in terms of quick delivery and early and effective implementation of such a policy or any similar such intervention that is intended to ensure our region’s food security?” Persaud wanted to know.

He said the Heads of Government have given a clear mandate and a number of CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meetings, looking at agriculture or general issues, have pointed to specific actions that need to be undertaken.

Persaud observed that technicians are very important in moving to effective action and he charged them: “That is why my message to you is about action, urgency and results.”

Acknowledging that the outcome and results are primary, he said: “I do hope that, at the end of this workshop, we will face and recognise this urgency because, for our region, food insecurity will intensify.”

On the domestic front, Persaud said the Government has embarked on a number of policies and programmes and made absolutely clear its overall commitment to the region’s food security.

“We are willing to assist and we are willing to deploy our natural resources and assets in this regard,” he pledged.

Persaud recalled that the country had offered to engage the region agriculture and food producers, in terms of coming to Guyana to increase and enhance its food security status.

Tremendous investments
He said Guyana is making tremendous investments to expand its food production and, currently, embarking on a diversification project of some US$40M, recognising the need to transform and diversify the agriculture sector and prepare it better for the effects of climate change and uncertainties of the global market.

“But, moreso, we want to position our domestic agriculture in a way that we can help alleviate the region’s food insecurity and that offer is still on the table. We have made it clear that we are willing to produce, so that we can supply, at least some of the basic food requirements of the region,” Persaud stated.

“And you find it, very surprising, sometimes, that even accessing the markets of sister States is much more difficult than going into Canada and North America,” he attested.

Persaud disclosed that many exporters and producers have now shifted because they complain about the onerous requirements and statistics show the growth, in terms of food exports, extra regionally, is higher than the CARICOM region.

“But it is not because of a lack of commitment or the lack of intention but just because of the barriers we ourselves place,” he contended.

Minister Persaud continued: “And that is why, I am stressing this point to you, technicians, too, that, if we are serious about why we are here today and the wider objectives, we need to act and we need to do the things that are necessary.”

He maintained that the region must also be able to aim for regional food self sufficiency.

“Sometimes we tend to get lost on the reality and I want us to remember that the reality is time is running out. There is need for urgency and we have a window of opportunity.”

Earlier, FAO Representative in Guyana, Ms. Lystra Fletcher-Paul said the workshop is timely, as it is taking place on the heels of the recently concluded World Summit on Food Security held in Rome, which gathered Heads of Government, from more than 100 countries, to discuss the issue.

She said the gathering drew the leaders’ attention to the fact that the number of hungry people in the world is fast approaching the one billion mark and one in every six persons, globally, suffers from malnutrition and five children die of malnutrition every 30 seconds, at a time of advanced technological developments.

Fletcher-Paul said the figures suggest that, up until 2005, the Caribbean was making good progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing the number of hungry people by 50 per cent towards the year 2015.

There was evidence that the number of malnourished persons in the region stood at 7.6 million, including Haiti, the same at the beginning of the 1990s, she said.

Fletcher-Paul added: “This means that one in every four persons in the region is undernourished. Undoubtedly, the soaring food prices of 2007 have reversed some of the gains which were made at the beginning of the 21st century but the extent and impact still need to be researched.”

She said both the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the FAO have estimated that, in Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of insecure persons rose by six million, as a direct result of the high food prices.

Food importers
Fletcher-Paul sad, with the exception of Belize and Guyana, all the other countries are net food importers, among them the small economies of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) being mostly dependent on imports.

“Moreover, the changing of diets, as a result of the economic growth of the countries of the region is triggering an increase in chronic non-communicable diseases,” she reported.

Fletcher-Paul said the Caribbean regional food security is, therefore, as much related to consumption and lifestyles of the people as it is to agriculture.

She said it suggests that there is need for a strong partnership which draws on a wide range of stakeholders, not just in agriculture, but health, nutrition, education, trade and social policy.

“This workshop is, therefore, a step in the right direction. It has brought together the main stakeholders in these areas of agriculture, trade, nutrition and health to work together to develop the regional food and nutrition security policy,” the diplomat concluded.

She said it responds to the mandate of the Heads of Governments’ call for food security and sustainable development as one of the main pillars of the regional transformation programme for agriculture, as well as, the goals of the Jagdeo Initiative and the community agricultural policy under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

Fletcher-Paul also said it is consistent with the five principles of sustainable food security, which were adapted at the recently completed World Food summit.

“This workshop, colleagues, is our opportunity to change, to stop talking and do something about agriculture, food and nutrition security in the Caribbean. Let us not view the next two days as just another ‘talk shop’,” she urged.

The diplomat assured that the FAO stands willing to assist and work with partners to make a difference and took the opportunity to thank all partners who have worked with it in the fight for food security in the region.

CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General for Trade and Economic Integration, Mr. Irwin La Rocque, in welcoming remarks, said the workshop is being held also with support from phase two the FAO project ‘Promoting CARICOM/CARIFORUM Food Security’.

He said the right to food is a fundamental human one and no nation or region can be truly secure without achieving food and nutrition security.

“The fight against hunger and malnutrition has been and continues to be a global challenge,” La Rocque conceded.

He said the FAO estimated the 2008 number of undernourished people in the world at 950 million and projected that the figure will rise to one billion during 2009.

With respect to the Caribbean, La Rocque said, in 2009, one in every four persons is undernourished.

“This is an alarming fact and an indication of the extent of the challenge we face in the region,” he said.

Alluding to the challenges, La Rocque said phase one of the project revealed that food security in the region was compromised not by lack of food availability per se but by inadequate access to it and dietary patterns that adversely impact on nutritional status.

He said the increases in the prices of agricultural commodities and food items, in particular, occasioned by rapidly increasing fuel prices in 2008, have had a negative impact on the accessibility and availability of some major commodities with significant implications for food and nutrition security in the region.

La Rocque said that the CARICOM Secretariat and the region are major beneficiaries of the FAO scheme, as the capacity of the Agriculture Development Unit is being strengthened.