{"id":23861,"date":"2019-01-31T23:19:03","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T03:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=23861"},"modified":"2019-01-31T23:19:05","modified_gmt":"2019-02-01T03:19:05","slug":"minister-underscores-the-importance-of-food-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/minister-underscores-the-importance-of-food-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister underscores the importance of food security"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cFood security is a matter of national importance since it\ndetermines the health and productivity of each nation\u2019s human resources. \u201c<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs, Hon.\nDean Jonas emphasized this point during his presentation on the Budget Debate\nlast evening (Tues) in Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Jonas was adamant that when high priority is placed on food and nutrition security, it will\ngive rise to disposable income and employment opportunities.   <\/p>

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\u201cFor those of us in emerging economies, we must therefore\nseek to modernize agriculture, improve production efficiency, achieve food security\nand profitability for farmers with the goal of significantly increasing\nagricultural productivity.\u201d <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

According to the Agriculture Minister, policies and interventions\nmust be developed to ensure that farmers and fisherfolk earn higher incomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that reforms that encompass the full agricultural\nvalue chain and create additional businesses and job opportunities in the areas\nof storage, transport, processing, packaging and marketing of agricultural\nproduce must be actively embraced. <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Minister Jonas pointed out that Agricultural development\nshould not be considered optional, it should be considered mandatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must treat with the stark reality that our<\/em><\/strong>\nlevel of food importation is akin to a chronic economic disorder which requires\nimmediate treatment to avoid a slow and inevitable death. The data should be\nreleased with the same urgency as a public health alert; the response should be\nrapid, production goals set, and funding realigned to address the matter of\nfood security.\u201d<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In order to be the driver of the development of the\nagriculture sector in Antigua and Barbuda, Minister Jonas identified a number\nof significant points which include reducing the food import bill by expanding\nlocal production of key commodities which are significant foreign exchange\nusers.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He emphasized that farmers must become competitive in the\nproduction and supply of selected commodities for target markets and effectively\ncompete against imported products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to\nMinister Jonas, a Marketing Study\/Plan conducted by an FAO Consultant should be\ncompleted within a few weeks and the document maps the way forward to a renewed\nand revitalized agriculture sector, which will improve production on a\nstructured level, thus reducing the country\u2019s food import bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Average Annual Food Import Bill (2010-2017) = EC$245\nmillion (US$91 million).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFood security is a matter of national importance since it determines the health and productivity of each nation\u2019s human resources. \u201c Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs, Hon. Dean Jonas emphasized this point during his presentation on the Budget Debate last evening (Tues) in Parliament. Minister Jonas was adamant that when high priority is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMinister underscores the importance of food security - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/minister-underscores-the-importance-of-food-security\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minister underscores the importance of food security\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cFood security is a matter of national importance since it determines the health and productivity of each nation\u2019s human resources. \u201c Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs, Hon. Dean Jonas emphasized this point during his presentation on the Budget Debate last evening (Tues) in Parliament. 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