-FOOD SAFETY AND FOOD SECURITY

THE Ministry of Agriculture has declared October to be ‘Agriculture Month’ when the ministry would be outreaching to the education institutions and communities all over the country. The month will also encompass the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Food Day on October 16.

The theme for World Food Day is, “Our Actions are our Future, Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World.” The theme for Agriculture Month is somewhat similar to that for World Food Day and is, “Sustainable Agriculture for ensuring Food Safety and a Green Economy.” These themes together in effect call for both Food Safety and Food Security.

The Ministry of Agriculture has organised a month-long programme of daily events with the emphasis being on educating the populations in the regions about Food Safety and the value of Agriculture. The programme is adequate in working towards agricultural education, but since it also encompasses the World Food Day theme, we feel the programme could have included several other supporting activities.

The first of these is proposing the use of oil revenues to fund an agricultural revolution, something for which Guyana had been yearning for nearly two centuries since the abolition of slavery. An agricultural revolution would again modernise the sugar industry and improve its management, so that the industry would again become as relevant and as important as it was for two centuries when it maintained the colony of British Guiana and independent Guyana for some decades after independence.

The agricultural revolution would also modernise all the other sub-sectors of the industry, including rice, dairy, meat and root crops. When agriculture again begins to provide lucrative employment, it will again attract young people.

Another activity which could have been emphasised is the introduction and development of new crops and the work of NAREI in this direction could have been highlighted. For instance, NAREI has successfully cultivated a number of spices which have both a local and international demand, some of which could capture international niche markets as Grenada’s nutmegs had done.

Fish-farming and its methodology could have been encouraged in all the regions and interested farmers could have been given loans or grants to start up their own ponds. Successful livestock experiments, such as the introduction of the Barbados Black Belly sheep or the Peking Duck could have been resuscitated. The encouragement of kitchen gardens could have been supplemented by the sale of various seeds at very cheap, subsidised prices.

Only one session of cooking of locally grown food was programmed for the New Guyana Marketing Corporation. The hotels and restaurants could have been brought on board, offering cheaper local meals during the month.

Mention should also have been made of INFOSAN, the International Food Safety Authorities Network, a global network jointly managed by FAO and WHO on which the ministry represents Guyana. INFOSAN, among its other activities, promotes the rapid exchange of information during food-safety events.

Food Safety is multi-faceted and we will mention three examples of it: when chickens are fed with antibiotic-laced feeds, many such drugs are retained in the chicken meat and those who consume such meat would be unknowingly ingesting large amounts of antibiotics which could seriously impair their health in several ways. A second example of unsafe food is when farmers use drains or polluted water to spray their leafy vegetables.

A great deal of the polluted water is retained in the leaves and one would be unknowingly eating bacteria-filled salads or bhajis. A third area of unsafe foods lies in the importation of substandard or even toxic food. The Food and Drugs Department has on various occasions found low-quality sardines using packaging which resembles the well-known Brunswick brand or vegetable protein powdered milk passing itself off as full cream or soya and other oils passing themselves off as olive oil.

When a society or country has attained food security, the population would always have enough food to withstand any eventuality. Eventualities could include floods, adverse weather conditions or wars. Guyana, fortunately, has never had any extreme food insecurity resulting in famine-like conditions. With adequate investment and effective management in agriculture, Guyana could attain full food security. Agriculture Month has been a useful commemoration.