Food Security...old talk again?

Apparently, CARICOM through its Council for Trade & Economic Development (COTED) approved a Regional Food & Nutrition Security Policy in October 2010. This little known policy has the following four objectives:

  1. Food Availability - Promote the sustainable production, processing, preparation, commercialization and consumption of safe, affordable, nutritious, high quality Caribbean food commodities/products.
 2. Food Access - Ensure regular access of Caribbean households, especially the poor and vulnerable, to sufficient quantities of safe, affordable, quality food at all times, particularly in response to diverse socioeconomic and natural shocks.
 3. Food Utilization/Nutritional Adequacy - Improve the nutritional status of the Caribbean population, particularly with respect to NCDs including diabetes, hypertension, overweight and obesity.
 4. Stability of Food Supply - Improve the resilience of the region’s national communities and households to natural and socio-economic crises.

The full policy document is available at this link.

The key question is...how do we move from talk to serious, consistent action?

An Enabling Environment for Food Production

  

Premise

1.      Farmers can provide a continuous supply of good quality food.
2.      Farmers can receive a consistent profitable price for produce.

Enabling Factors

Land

1. no flooding or effective flood control;
2. good vehicular access road;
3. leases with reasonable terms provided (state lands).

Water

4. year round supply of water for farm operations so as to minimise dependence on rain-fed food production.

Note: Calculate crop water use based on acreage to be cultivated to ensure water for irrigation will be available (similar calculation for animal husbandry). Need to understand when in the life cycle of the various crops that there will be a greater demand for water.

Praedial Larceny

5. effective control
6. or initially at least, rapid response and thorough investigation.

Planting Material

7. availability of tried and tested varieties suited to local conditions which may vary based on season;
8. disease and pest free planting material in sufficient quantity when needed;
9. need to have farmers understand the particular characteristics of each variety to be used in the field.

Technical Advice

10. primarily pest and disease control with knowledge specific to crops planted or animals reared
11. ministry should re-engineer its training of farmers and provide timely on-farm assistance (same-day preferred);
12. pest and disease symptoms and control information for all of the commercially produced crops in T&T should additionally be in the form of an interactive CDROM for use by all farmers (assisted by their computer savvy children where needed);
13. ministry should also produce high quality large posters on disease and pest symptoms, including nutritional deficiencies, and control measures; to be promoted in farming communities…..many existing posters not appropriately designed for farmers;
14. awareness campaign on the negative impacts of pesticides on humans, using real life examples from T&T, and alternative pest control measures that work in T&T;
15. soil tests must be done for all areas before cultivation, with results delivered in a timely manner, including recommendations specific to the crop type…..it can take up to 6 months to get the results from the ministry’s lab at Centeno;
16. re-introduce the  use of “green-manure” (with mung bean, crotalaria, and other legumes) to re-juvenate soils and increase organic content;
17. ministry needs to produce large charts on appropriate, crop specific agrochemical use for farmers as well as guidance to reduce agrochemical use;
18. train farmers in proper method of harvest for specific crops as well as sanitizing so as to help maintain quality to the consumer;
19. ministry should design or source appropriate crop specific crates for field packing of produce;
20. train farmers in proper packing and stacking of produce to minimise damage;
21. ministry must have updated and realistic cost of production models, even for integrated farming systems;
22. assist farmers in finding ways to lower cost of production without the sacrifice of produce quality.

 What are your views on these points outlined above?

 

A word about social media...

I am not convinced that our decision makers at the government institutions, farmer groups, and farmer support agencies fully understand how technology and technology uses are developing. I am not yet convinced that we sufficiently understand how social media as an example, could be harnessed to improve farmer access to marketing information and buyers or crop and pest control advice. Have a look at the short video below and think about how farmers and farm support stakeholders could benefit from the revolution in social media.

Appropriate Infrastructure - protected agriculture (greenhouse)

The Government is offering to lease lands for food production, including the establishment of green houses. The video clip below outlines the types and appropriateness of different structures for protected agriculture, commonly referred to as greenhouses. Perhaps you can spot what is needed to improve on the green house system often seen in Trinidad and Tobago.

Greenhouse Technology

Many people are interested in using greenhouse technology to produce high value vegetable crops. However, a drive around the farming communities and discussion with several greenhouse owners will reveal some interesting but disturbing issues. Many of them have used the wrong type of greenhouse design which led to increased cost of production.....poor technical advise from the Extension Services and the Agricultural Development Bank were often cited as the main cause of the farmers dilemma. Look at the short video below to see some of what our Jamaican bredrens are doing...at lower cost than the average greenhouse farmer in T&T and with better production.

Citrus Crop Last Quarter of 2011

Ripe oranges at a farm in Moruga

Plenty rains earlier this year have led to a reduced production of citrus....intense dry periods followed by rain leads to flower burst and heavier citrus production; assuming of course that crop nutrition, pests and diseases are not the limiting factors. Oranges are selling in some markets at 3 for $10.00...small and not particularly ripe.

The reduced bearing of oranges this year and high price at the market have increased the praedial larceny pressure on citrus estates. From a 6 acre citrus estate in Sangre Grande, one farmer got only 12 oranges last weekend.

Later we will explore some early attempts to control theft on several citrus estates in Trinidad. Below are two photos of large citrus farms in central Trinidad.

Introduction and Purpose

This is the first in a series of expositions that will share experiences and insights into the current and proposed state of locally grown foods, farmers who produce these foods and issues related to farming in Trinidad and Tobago. The intent is to start and support a discussion from a range of stakeholders which may lead to the review or development of policy and actions in support of sustainable food production.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago recently advertised the proposed distribution of 2,743 acres of small land parcels (2-25 acres) and 1,480 acres of large land parcels (> 25 acres) for food production. Most of these parcels are part of the abandoned sugarcane or food crop lands owned by the former Caroni (1975) Limited.

Vine crops at Nariva

Expanding the opportunities for food production to people who are willing to farm and invest their own resources is commendable and must be encouraged. This approach of the Government is part of the range of enabling activities that are critically needed to stimulate and foster food production. This blog will over time, explore the range of issues that need to be addressed to demonstrate a serious, consistent and practical approach needed for sustainable food production.


The key issues that will be explored are:

• Availability and access to suitable lands
• Access to basic and appropriate infrastructure
• Access to trained or reliable labour
• Control of praedial larceny
• Appropriate and timely technical inputs
• Production scheduling 
• Post harvest handling and quality control
• Timely access to reliable markets 
• Farmer knowledge skills upgrading
• Pollution control
•  Food toxicity and HACCP
• Licensing and certification of suppliers/service providers
• Recognition and use of standards

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