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Some Reflections on Food
Security and Sustainability in Grenada’s 2010 Budget
by Martin P. Felix
Finance Minister Nazim Burke presented the Grenada 2010
budget with the theme of “Exploiting the Crisis for Job
Creation, Renewed Growth and Sustainable Development
through Partnerships.” While the presentation focused on
several pillars of development and priority
considerations, I found the section on agriculture most
interesting for reasons of measuring sustainable
development goals, and as well as for the long-terms
benefits it promises to the average Grenadian.
Grenada made world news at the recently concluded United
Nations Conference on the Environment in Copenhagen as a
leader in advocating on the behalf of Small Island
Developing States (SIDS). Many environmentally conscious
communities and nations are looking to see how Grenada
puts its global environmental concerns to local
practice. In other words, how does Grenada walk its
international talk locally?
At Copenhagen, Food Security was an issue of great
concern for poor developing countries, especially the
vulnerable SIDS that are prone to natural disasters. The
2010 budget is the first since the Copenhagen
conference. While the budget provided Grenadians who
take food security issues seriously something to chew
on, it also presents some areas of belly gripe.
It is heartening to know that government takes the issue
of locally produced food seriously, if one is to proceed
from the 2010 budget presentation. Said Minister
Burke,“(t)he focus is to promote the local consumption
of more locally produced foods.” There will be a drive
to increase production of certain food crops such as
corn, yam, sweet potatoes, dasheen and cassava and to
increase their prominence in the local diet,” the
Minister told the nation. This, Minister Burke posited,
will be facilitated by a media campaign with the help of
Grenada Food and Nutrition Council and civil society to
better educate the population on the production and
benefit of local food, and also the professional use of
local foods and herbs to treat various illnesses.
This new trust is commendable for a variety of reasons.
Most importantly it can help narrow the country’s huge
import/export gap, it places an official stamp of
respect for traditional wisdom in particular regards to
herb use, and it promotes the availability and use of
quality food to the population.
The main focus of the government's plan for agriculture
is institutional strengthening, planning to improve
capacity, and research and development. According to the
Minister, the remaining government-owned estates (Grand
Bras, Belle Vue, Mt Reuil, Bocage, and Laura) are
grossly underdeveloped. Government’s plan is to use
these holdings to "generate significant employment in
the rural communities, raise Government revenues and
serve as demonstration sites to showcase good
agricultural practices."
While the recognition that these estates can be put to
better use is encouraging, the budget comes up short
when it comes to new thinking about agriculture and the
need to take advantage of global trends that Grenada can
benefit from. One such opportunity is the multi-billion
organic food industry, the fastest growing sector of the
agricultural industry globally.
Global demand for organic products continues to grow,
with sales increasing by over $5 billion a year.
Organic farming was cited by the United Nations
Environmental Program (UNEP) in a 2008 report for
increasing farmer and household incomes, rural
infrastructure development, promoting education,
improving local skills and health, and for promoting
vast improvements and benefits to the natural
environment in areas where it is practiced.
Organic farming should have been seen as an engine to
positively contribute to Government’s plans, as
enunciated by the Minister, to combat “rising public
debt, high poverty and unemployment rates, especially in
rural areas most affected by Ivan. According to the UNEP,
poverty is a major contributory factor to food
insecurity. And organic farming can have positive
impacts on poverty in a several ways, the report said.
The UNEP endorsed the following ways in which farmers
are benefitting from organic farming: “(i) cash savings,
as organic farming precludes the need to purchase
synthetic pesticides and fertilizers; (ii) extra incomes
gained by selling the surplus produce (resulting from
the change to organic); (iii) premium prices for
certified organic produce, and (iv) added value to
organic products through processing activities.”
The budget discussion is a good opportunity to look at
national health. Both Copenhagen and the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals have highlighted the
interconnections between what we eat, how our food
arrives at our table, how much local food we consume,
organic farming practices, the preservation of cultural
heritage, protection of our sea and environment, and
sustainable tourism consciousness, are all economic
issues that must be given high consideration in our
plans as an environmentally-challenged microstate. |
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