‘See migration as an opportunity’: FAO coordinator

See migration as an opportunity rather than a threat.

This is one of the messages that the Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), Lystra Fletcher-Paul is sending out to persons.

She spoke to The Barbados Advocate prior to the start of the lecture to mark World Food Day 2017 under the theme of ‘Change the Future of Migration: Invest in Food Security and Rural Development” which took place yesterday at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters, Greame Hall, Christ Church. She said that migration is not often viewed in a positive light.

However, it is important to remember that these migrants are leaving their homeland and going to other places because they are desirous of a better life for themselves and their families.

“The theme this year is focused on migration. We are saying that migration is seen as a developmental issue because of what is happening in the world today. You have migrants for example, from Syria going all over the world; you have for example, in the Caribbean, people from Dominica are migrating to other Caribbean countries and that is going to have an impact on food and nutrition and security. There is also migration from rural areas to urban areas in search of employment and that is also going to have an impact on food security because most of the people in the rural areas are responsible for growing the food that we eat for food security.”

Nevertheless, there are benefits to be derived from migration, whether it be on an international scale such as those Syrian migrants; on a regional scale like Dominicans leaving their native island and going to neighbouring islands or on a local scale such as persons leaving the rural areas and going to the urban parts of a country.

This is because not only do these migrants bring skills that can be used to help build your own country, especially in cases where labour shortages may exist; the citizens of the countries to which these migrants go to can also help these migrants build back up their own country.

“So we are saying that we need to address this issue of migration and see it not as a threat, but as an opportunity and deal with the root causes of migration. In some cases, migration is caused by conflict – there may wars in some countries; it may be caused by disasters like what has happened in Dominica; it may because of economic reasons as people move because they are looking for a better life or a better job; it may be caused by inequality as people may feel that they are discriminated or they are treated as refugees. But we have to look at this as an opportunity because these migrants come with skills – they provide skills where they may be labour shortages [in areas] such as agriculture.”