COTED endorses Food and Nutrition Security Policy

The  just-concluded Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in St George’s, Grenada has endorsed the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Action Plan, the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen said in a press release.

The policy will be presented to the CARICOM Heads of Government at their Inter-sessional Meeting early next year.

The policy is geared to address the major food and nutrition security challenges in the community.

And it is also aimed at achieving the four basic elements of food security – food availability, food access, proper utilization for good health, nutrition and wellbeing, and stable and sustainable food supplies at all times.

Considering the impact of rising food prices and the current economic crisis, a Technical Working Group assessed the region’s food security constraints and opportunities, and identified national priorities and areas where regional action could be taken to add value to the food security thrust.

And the plan was revised to take into account the considerations of member states, regional bodies and farmers’ representative organizations.

CARICOM member states have acknowledged that regional food security is not the purview of the agriculture sector alone, but requires the coordination among various sectors including health, trade and education, and at levels including households, communities, national and regional.

The COTED’s acceptance on Friday marked the second ministerial council that has endorsed the policy. The Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), which met from October 18-20 in Georgetown also approved the blueprint.

The COHSOD acknowledged the critical link between education and food and nutrition security and agreed that a focal point/team from within the education sector would be nominated to support the implementation of the Regional Policy on Food and Nutrition Security.

Referring to the acceptance of the provisions of the policy, Chair of the Special COTED, Minister of Food Production, Land and Marine Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, Vasant Bharath pointed out that food security was a major issue confronting all of the region’s peoples.

“We have been importing vast amounts of goods – US$3B worth of food in the CARICOM region last year alone – most of which we can actually grow ourselves…the things that we have all the land to produce,” he said at the conclusion of the one-day meeting.

“I think what has to happen now is that we’ve got to go back to our individual countries and we’ve got to organize our farming sector. In many instances, unfortunately our farmers don’t run their farms as businesses; they run it on a kind of subsistence basis…

He also said that younger persons should be encouraged to embrace technology and new techniques in farming and to see farming and agriculture as a business and run it in that way. In that way, Bharath added, food security would be created for the people.

He cautioned, however, that food security did not only revolve around the quantum of food, but on the quality and the nutritional value of food.

The minister also pointed to agreement on the start of operation of the recently-launched Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA). CHAFHSA, launched in Paramaribo, Suriname in March will come on stream in the first quarter of next year. The Special COTED also agreed on the agency’s budget.

CAHFSA is the agency upon which the region will depend to strengthen agricultural health and food safety and ensure the highest standards for trade in agricultural products. CAHFSA’s operations are also vital to fulfilling the provisions of the Treaty of Chaguaramas which call for the establishment of effective Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary regimes and for the harmonization of laws, administrative practices and procedures in respect of agriculture.

Bharath also highlighted the discussions on the constraints to the Regional Transformation Policy on Agriculture, called the Jagdeo Initiative, during which special emphasis was placed on losses on account of praedial larceny, issues related to land tenure, and risk management.