(Trinidad Express) – The government is not doing enough to end this country’s dependency on expensive, imported food, or to help farmers improve at their trade, says economist Dr Ralph Henry.
The economist, who is best known for his extensive research on poverty, said the State is not placing enough emphasis on developing the agricultural sector at home. He said farmers, like most people, also want to “eat a food”.
But he said the country’s mind-set proliferates the idea that you cannot escape poverty if you are involved in agriculture and farm work.
“People in agriculture have been battered,” Henry said at a forum-entitled ‘The food crisis: A Blessing in Disguise’-at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Port of Spain.
The economist said despite the fact that the State pays lip service to the idea of diversification, no aggressive steps have been made to fight the “litany of woes” which farmers say plague them at present.
He said despite what the public may think, it is difficult for them (farmers), as the technological support and information which need to be passed on to them by the Ministry of Agriculture are lacking. He said it was high time the powers that be get a grip on what was going on in relation to food security.
“There are no Obamas here,” he critiqued.
He was alluding to the fact that Caribbean governments are not putting the same emphasis on research and development of their local industries as US President Barack Obama is placing on those in the United States.
He noted that Obama was moving to end the US dependency on oil.
