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Alert on Caribbean Food Insecurity
Date Posted: April 16, 2008.
London, (Prensa Latina) - Caribbean expert David Jessop
warned here that riots could occur almost anywhere in the
Caribbean if global demand of food continues to exceed
supply and commodity prices continue to rise.
In recent months the acceleration in food prices has been
compounded by the turmoil in the financial markets and
hard-pressed governments reach the limit of their ability to
subsidize basic foodstuffs, says Jessop who is Director of
the Caribbean Council, consultancy firm, based in the United
Kingdom.
As both a source of energy and an 'asset class' for
investors, food has become the subject of unbridled
speculation. So much so that in just two weeks in April the
price of rice for example rose by more than fifty per cent.
The seriousness of this and the challenge it presents to
Caribbean growth and stability has not been well understood
either within or beyond the region.
Instead, the response of most but not all governments seems
to be based on the premise that what is happening is
short-term in its nature in the opinion of Jessop.
To be fair, says the Director of the Caribbean consultancy
group, the region's reticence may be because the crisis is
occurring just as governments have significantly less room
for manoeuvre: most are trying to adapt their economic
systems to accommodate freer trade while striving to
maintain growth, fiscal income and a continuing commitment
to a social provision.
The underlying reason why this is happening largely relates
to economic globalization and the rapid growth of demand
from nations like China, India and Brazil requiring more of
everything from energy, to minerals to food to fuel and
sustain their development.
What this suggests is that neither energy prices nor the
cost of food is likely to go down soon, if at all and that
small economies will be particularly vulnerable.
To its credit, recognizes Jessop, Caricom has begun to
recognize the challenge, governments have agreed to cut the
Common External Tariff on specific food items, are in
dialogue about how to encourage investment in the production
of food in Guyana for regional distribution and are
discussing with Trinidad the establishment of a fast ferry
service in the Eastern Caribbean for farm products.
Despite this, the region still imports US$3.5 billion of
food annually; a figure that is now quite literally rising
week on week.
This suggests there is a need to think more fundamentally
about the role of agriculture in Caribbean societies and
what must be done to increase food production and to
integrate both agriculture and fisheries with domestic
demand and the requirements of the tourism sector.
According to Jessop, it requires discarding any thought of a
protected export agricultural model based on preference and
undertaking an agricultural revolution based on sound
business practice with appropriate government incentives and
international support if the region and its development is
not to be destabilised by rising global food prices.
A changed approach also implies that Governments rapidly
engage with multilateral institutions to develop new
initiatives that support increased agricultural output and
training.
Above all it requires a sea change in the way in which
farmers and agriculture and the large areas of uncultivated
and under-cultivated land are regarded.
The Caribbean expert recognizes that the US and the EU
continue to provide incentives and subsidize the production
and import of bio-fuels from cereals. The two opposing
approaches to trade pits food against energy and almost
certainly means that trade related adjustments cannot be a
sustainable response.
Without new land being brought into production, new farming
methods introduced and attention paid to transport
especially in developing nations, food prices will continue
to soar, warns the analyst on Caribbean issues.
