–at forum against hunger in Peru

CARIBBEAN and Latin American (LATAM) governments must be “more proactive” in the fight against hunger and under-nourishment faced by some 35 million residents of the two Regions.

If the Caribbean and LATAM states are serious about the ‘CELAC 2025 Plan for Food Security and Nutrition and Hunger eradication’ and the Strategic Development Agenda which will come to an end in 2030 and which were agreed to by 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries, “Governments have to be more proactive,” Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence said.

Lawrence, who is just back from this week’s three-day VI Forum of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger (PFH) in Lima, Peru, pushed for continued national, regional and international dialogue to “place the eradication of hunger and malnutrition atop the political agenda, as elements that contribute to the progressive realisation of the right to food”, during her address.

She believes prudent spending on budgetary allocations to combat the physical and psychological effects of starvation is key in the Caribbean and Latin American struggle to beat food insecurity among their populations.

However, school-aged children and the family must be the principal targets in the quest, Lawrence said.

“We consider school-feeding policy as a fundamental tool to fight against hunger, food insecurity and under-nourishment. Therefore, we will work on legal frameworks in this matter to reach food security for all children. Towards this end, exchange of experiences between parliamentarians from countries with different degrees of advancement on this issue,” she said.

She also highlighted The fundamental role that family-farming programmes play in food security and nutrition, as the main food suppliers; hence, the need to begin work on legal frameworks to reach food security for all our children.”

“We commit to continue to work with our governments and stakeholders to give priority in the national budget to programmes that would impact positively on the eradication of hunger and malnutrition and to ensure smart spending of these budgetary allocations,” Lawrence said.

Support Haiti
For the Caribbean specifically, Lawrence lobbied the global Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to remain steadfast in its backing of Haiti, “Since this country has the highest number of persons suffering from hunger in the Caribbean so the statistics would not change for the Region if this is not addressed.”

Chronic, low levels of food production combined with a whopping US$4.75 billion annual extra-regional food import-bill has left Caribbean peoples very vulnerable to food insecurity.

In addition, continuing inadequate public policy incentive frameworks to stimulate private-sector participation and investment, lack of sufficiently inclusive participatory frameworks, weak public sector, private sector and civil society institutions and partnerships and inadequate legislative approaches and frameworks are not helping, particularly the Caribbean.

But low agricultural production, a high food-import bill and a weak social infrastructure are not the only enduring obstacles threatening food security in the Caribbean.

Last month, Jorge O’Ryan, FAO Governance Officer for the Caribbean, also highlighted low to negative growth rates, high public debt, and declines in foreign-exchange flows resulting from a decline in remittances, foreign investment and inflows from tourism and exports as additional obstructions to regional food security.
O’Ryan addressing the theme ‘Governance for Food and Nutrition Security in Guyana,’ also singled out loss of competitiveness in the traditional agricultural export product markets, e.g. sugar and bananas; high inflation and high economic losses from disasters due to the sub-Region’s “proneness to natural hazards, including hurricanes, droughts, flooding, landslides, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions” as perennial challenges confronting CARICOM countries.

These must have influenced Minister Lawrence’s call for a pact to be forged between the PFH of the Caribbean and LATAM states and extra-territorial regions, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and other parliamentary organisations such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to “reinforce the legislative initiatives against poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and share experiences especially in developing nations.”