EDITORIAL: Agricultural boost needed

If we look closely we would recognise that agriculture is an important aspect of our lives in more ways than one. Certainly, agriculture is an important cog in the wheel of achieving and maintaining good health; but apart from that, another important role it plays is in providing employment opportunities. So it is imperative that greater focus is placed on ensuring that agricultural sectors across the world are able to grow.

But today we wish to focus a bit more on the very important direct link between what we eat and our ability to maintain healthy lifestyles, which is a reality too often lost on members of our society and indeed the wider world. The fact is that good health depends on good nutrition, and to achieve that so called good nutrition, depends greatly on the agricultural sector. It is no surprise then that one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030, speaks to ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all.

In that vein, we believe that governments have a major role to play in ensuring that their people have access to food first and foremost, and that they are eating healthy, nutritious meals always. Now while the authorities cannot dictate what is served in individual households, we feel strongly that they have a role to play in educating the public, food processors and manufacturers and even restaurants, about what is considered healthy food. This is definitely as area we think that the Barbados Government should focus on, given the ever rising figures in relation to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease among our people.

Some say the solution is to eat more locally grown foods, but there are others that argue that the local agricultural sector cannot, even if it tried, meet the food needs of Barbadians. Indeed that argument may in fact be true, but certainly local farmers, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders can examine thoroughly the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities within the sector relative to crop production and work on perfecting and expanding what the farmers are able to supply. This then brings to light the question of food security.

As it stands now, most of what we consume is imported and it is for that reason that countries like ours and others in the Caribbean should be trying at all costs to achieve the elusive goal of food security. But this is goal that perhaps Caribbean countries may not be able to achieve individually, but could be attained collectively. None of us in the region is right now supplying 100 per cent of our food needs, but certainly there are specific strengths in the sector that farmers can perhaps focus on, that would help to reduce our escalating food import bills. Undoubtedly, there are some commodities especially in relation to our root crops, protein and vegetables that we can produce on a very competitive basis.

So it would do us all well to attempt this level of self-sufficiency from a regional level and it is imperative that there is greater dialogue among the leaders of our countries to see how it can be done, looking carefully at which territories are best to grow which crops, and pooling their resources to achieve those ends. This would also be of great benefit to the regional population, as the fresher the crops we consume; the more nutritious it is for our bodies.

But, if this is to be achieved, as a region we must be willing to work together.