Rising Food Prices = Opportunities for Local Agriculture

All around the world there is an outcry against rising food prices:

Riots in Haiti that killed four people, violent protests in Ivory Coast, price riots in Cameroon that left 40 people dead, demonstrations in Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal, protests in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia.

Note also the reactions of some governments: India has placed restrictions on rice exports, the government of Guinea has banned the exportation of some basic commodities, Guyana has announced that it may cut exports of rice. We should expect this trend to continue as more countries control their agricultural output to secure food for their own people.

Several months ago Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur wisely advised Bajans to keep kitchen gardens and grow more of our own food, and we wish to echo that call today. Prime Minister David Thompson also cautions us that food security is vital. We cannot control the prices of imported food produced outside of Barbados, but we can surely do much better on the home front. We also encourage Barbadians to consider the land offer made by the government of Guyana. It is a sensible business proposition offering rewarding opportunities and should be regarded strictly as such.

In times when we are experiencing steep international increases in the prices of food and fuel, we should not fail to realise that these also present opportunities for investment in local and regional agriculture.

Bajan Free Press

http://www.nationnews.com/story/321410954904358.php

Food security ‘vital’
Published on: 4/17/08.

PRIME MINISTER David Thompson says the issue of food security must be taken very seriously.

He told businessmen in Port-of-Spain yesterday that as a region, “we must increase the output of agricultural produce and foods in particular”.

Thompson, who was the specially invited guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association, dealt with a range of issues in his presentation entitled: The Future Of The Caricom Single Market And Economy.

He pointed to the global issues impacting on regional economies such as the growing demands of India and China and the worldwide increase in demands for food and bio-fuels. These situations, he said, were likely to continue for some time.

Against this background, he said: “We must examine the question of food security very carefully. The costs of fuel will also increase the costs of importing foods and related inputs to agricultural production. The CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development has been studying the issue of food security for some time.

“You have a core group of food processing firms and agriculturalists among your membership who I believe are very capable of developing a response to this rising demand for food and CARICOM governments have an obligation to ensure that our agriculture sector can meet the needs of our people,” he said.

Of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), Thompson said that it was here to stay. But, that its creation would require deeper social partnerships between regional governments, the private sectors, trade unions as well as civil society organisations.

“I have consciously put emphasis on CSME not only because I was asked to speak about its future, but also because I believe that a strong and sustainable CSME is a precondition for successful competition in the global market place,” Thompson added.

(ES)

http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/290067331009302.php

The Guyana land offer to Barbados
Published on: 10/16/07.

GUYANA’S OFFER to Barbadians and other nationals of the Caribbean Community for agriculture lands leased merely at BDS$10 per acre over a long period of years, has drawn sharply conflicting positions from spokespersons for the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP).

Not surprisingly, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development Mia Mottley, who disclosed the offer following her recent visit to Guyana for the Trade and Investment Exposition (GUYEXPO), welcomed the gesture when she spoke of the potentials for both countries’ agricultural and economic development.

In contrast, the DLP’s candidate for St Michael West, James Paul, was dismissive. He deemed it “nonsensical” and “ridiculous”, and linked the offer to a claimed attempt by the Owen Arthur administration to divert Barbadians’ attention from problems of land acquisition at home with hopes of securing farmlands in Guyana.

To follow current public discussions from political platforms, a realistic land policy, embracing issues of ownership, location and usage in the context of integrated agricultural, economic and social development, promises to be one of the major areas of focus for the coming general election.

It is not clear whether the DLP’s Paul was reflecting the party’s thinking, or aspects of any related policy, or speaking on his own behalf. In the report published in THE NATION of October 9, Paul said his comments were to be considered in the context of his position as “executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS)”.

Whether his position coincides with or has the endorsement of the BAS, is another matter. However, both Mottley and aspiring parliamentarian Paul would be aware that Guyana’s extension to Barbadians and other CARICOM nationals of an offer to acquire long-term leased agriculture lands is in accordance with a prevailing non-discriminatory policy applicable to all Guyanese – at home and abroad.

It is rooted in a policy, across political boundaries, to encourage agricultural diversification and expansion with food security as a major focus that is integral to CARICOM’s multi-faceted sectoral programmes for the emerging regional seamless economy.

Therefore, as Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo emphasised last week, and earlier articulated differently by Deputy Prime Minister Mottley, when it comes to the pepper-corn rental of US$5 per acre for a total of 15 acres, leased for 50 years, it is a standard policy for all Guyanese and now being extended to all CARICOM nationals.

It would be unfortunate should the offer – consistent with President Jagdeo’s lead responsibility within CARICOM for regional agriculture diversification, modernisation and expansion – be confused with the national policy of any community partner state, whether in our out of an election season.

Cooperation for mutual development is, of necessity, a two-way process; and Guyana equally stands to benefit from Barbadian skills and capital once the proposed partnership in the use of farmlands and related technological, transport and marketing initiatives are seriously pursued.