Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Samantha Marshall and senior representatives within the ministry, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), met with large scale farmers yesterday afternoon (Mon) to discuss Antigua and Barbuda’s Food Security and availability in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Speaking shortly after the meeting with the PR Department within the ministry, Acting Director of Agriculture, Mr. Gregory Bailey said that farmers who have excess lands that are not under production were invited to come on board with the ministry to help craft a strategy to deal with the pending crisis being faced regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic.
“The philosophy is for us to plan for a worst-case scenario and by worst- case scenario meaning where all borders are closed and food production has to come from inside.”
The acting director of agriculture said that in theinitial stage of this exercise, steps must be takento identify and fine tune Antigua and Barbuda’s consumption requirements for selected crops.
These crops, he noted, should be selected based on food security and survival in the first instance.
Following determination of the amount of acreages and types of commodities that would be required for this project, urgent land preparation and the required inputs such as seeds and fertilizers etc are paramount to ensure adequate production.
Bailey noted that the government has increased its maintenance of its equipment including the sourcing of parts for tractors due to theirunavailability locally.
In addition, Bailey stated that the Extension Division along with the newly formed statistics unit within the ministry are already looking at the consumption patterns and the acreage, soseveral things are being done simultaneously.
Bailey noted that response from the farmers to the Ministry of Agriculture’s reaction to the Covid-19 Pandemic was very favourable.
“They are ready; the farmers are committed, it’s just for us to do the necessary assessments, because once we come up with the acreages for food and we are in a position to do land preparation, we then have to come up with a plan to determine which farmers produce what and in what quantities, so there is a lot of ground work to be done.”
Mr. Bailey said that the main message from the minister to the farmers during the meeting was a call for unity in their approach to food nutrition and security at this time.
“We are on the verge of a crisis; we don’t know how it’s going to pan out; the situation is very fluid at the moment, meaning that we could reach to a worst-case scenario before they find a cure or a resolution to the problem where all borders are closed, where we would have to produce for ourselves for an indefinite period or we may find a situation that in the next few months, things are regularize.”
He added that however it pans out, this experience with the pandemic is definitely a wake up call for all.
“It’s a wake up call for us because today it might be Covid; tomorrow It may be David, who knows, and we have a pending hurricane season which is an annual cycle that’s coming;can you imagine if we have a situation with this Covid virus prolonging into the hurricane season and we have a major hurricane, so you see the need for production and not only production but production with the consideration for storage.”
He noted that while the meeting with farmers on the troubling issue is important, the issue of food security is not solely an agriculture concern, but a national issue that must be addressed nationally.
Some of the issues that the farmers brought forth as major concerns during yesterday’s meeting included adequate water supply, cheaper water rates and the whole issue of guarantee of market which were duly noted by the minister. Further one- on –one negotiationsare expected to take place as the farming community moves towards a rapid response to this major pandemic that is crippling economies across the globe.
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Although this may look like a good move living where we are living has limitations.
This means more salt water going into the soil, resulting in lower yields. Which means a higher reliance on fertilizers. Not good.
My suggestion is as follows think long term go on a massive fruit tree planting exercise.
Distribute the plants at a cost of $5 each. People will be take care of them because they paid for them.
Each house, space available, should have 1 tree of life , 1 banana patch, 1 papaya tree, and 1 coconut tree. These are sustainable survival food. 1 seaside grape tree.
Populate fruit trees in every available space. Vegetables takes allot of care and attention.
Given our circumstance we must have a strategic approach to reaching the same result.
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