2
Collection of contributions received
Discussion from the 2nd August to the 15th of September 2011
Table of contents
Introduction to the Topic 4
Contributions Received 5
1) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 5
2) Leroy McClean 5
3) Ian Ivey 5
4) Yon Fernandez 6
5) Roosevelt King 6
6) Winston R. Rudder 7
7) Cecilia Babb 8
8) Carl Roberts 9
9) Jethro T. Greene 9
10) Carmen Dardano 10
11) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 11
12) Ian Ivey 13
13) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 15
14) Grace Sirju-Charran 15
15) King Roosevelt 16
16) King Roosevelt 16
17) Gary Mathieu 16
18) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 18
19) Marisa Wilson 19
20) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 20
21) Lennox Lampkin 20
22) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 21
23) Emmet Murphy 22
24) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 22
25) Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute 23
26) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 24
27) Final Wrap Up and Expression of Appreciation to All Contributors by Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation 25
Introduction to the Topic
Welcome to the Online Consultation on the CARICOM Regional Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan (RFNSAP) which opens on August 2nd and continues until September 15th 2011.
CARICOM, assisted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), recently completed a Regional Food and Nutrition Security Policy (RFNSP) designed to secure the provision of “... safe, adequate, nutritious and affordable food for the region’s inhabitants at all times, thereby achieving food and nutrition security”. A Regional Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan (RFNSAP) is currently being developed to implement the RFNSP.
This online consultation based on the draft RFNSAP seeks to gather the views and inputs of key regional civil society partners in order to refine the strategies and actions proposed to address the objectives of the Regional Policy. I invite you to read the draft Action Plan and provide your comments and suggestions. Your views on whether it is an adequate framework for achieving regional food and nutrition security are very important. A summary of this online discussion will be incorporated in the finalized RFNSAP.
The following questions are a guide to stimulate, and not limit, the discussion.
Guiding questions
1) Do you consider that the draft RFNSAP adequately identifies and deals with the key concerns affecting regional food and nutrition security? If not, what specific suggestions would you propose?
2) How would implementation of the strategies and actions of the RFNSAP influence the activities of your organization?
3) Implementation is often a challenge with regional and national plans. What are your views about the implementation arrangements proposed in the RFNSAP? Are there missing elements. If so, please identify.
4) Are you satisfied with the role identified for civil society in the RFNSAP? If not, what specific ideas do you have?
I wish to thank you in advance for participating in this consultation. The feedback provided will be highly valued in the finalization of the RFNSAP.
I look forward to constructive, interesting and rich discussions.
Winston R. Rudder – Facilitator
Contributions Received
1) Winston R. Rudder, facilitator of the consultation
A key priority area in the RFNSAP is increasing the availability of regionally produced nutritious food to satisfy the requirements of the regional market. This involves the aoption of coordinated and coherent approaches, taking on board and balancing the interests of all stakeholders along the entire supply chain from the farmer to the consumer. The application of the value chain approach is seen as an important initiative in making this happen. The relative strength, capability and negotiating skills of the partners in the chain are considerations which will need to be examined and addressed for long term sustainability and success of the intended approach. Of importance here is the readiness of the national institutions - Ministries of Agriculture in particular - to review and adjust in light of the implications of the value chain approach for changes in the way they function and deliver development support. Dealing with the strengthening of smaller farmers' organizations must also be a priority on the agenda.
2) Leroy McClean
The RFNSAP is long overdue and I am happy to see that provision is made for inputs from stakeholders. However, the choices under the categories "Organizations" and "Constituencies" seem limited and could exclude lay persons as myself who have to be creative in order to complete these required fields. With respect to the actual plan, this requires some study. However, the first impression is that it is somewhat "wordy" and does not provide some vital information in a readily accessable way. For example: could there be a table(s) that would show: (a) CARICOM population - distribution (rural/urban), by age, involvement in agricultural production; (b) Per capita nutrition requirements by age group; (c) Food crops required to meet these nutritional requirements; (d) Available acreage and resources for plant and livestock production. I am sure there are others that would be useful. Having set out that information the plan could then show how we could utilize the available human, land and other resources to meet the requirements for regional food security.
3) Ian Ivey
What tends to happen in the Caribbean is that people deal with many peripheral issues and fail to grasp those which are fundamental. Agriculture in the region must be regarded as a business, use modern systems of production and achieve high productivity within the constraints that prevail. Extreme weather events affect every country in the world. The challenge is to develop systems that minimise the impact of such extremes. Even in the Caribbean, some highly innovative very commercial agriculturalists have been able to do this. Most agriculture in the region is archaic using techniques that are far from modern. The cost of much locally produced food, as a result, is 50% - 100% higher than in countries with modern unsubsidised agricultural sectors (e.g. in T&T compared to New Zealand) It is unattractive to the vast majority of young people because existing policies perpetuate 'peasant farming'. There is little technology and few modern comforts in Caribbean agriculture. In small isolated countries like New Zealand agriculture is a modern hi-tech business. That's what is needed here and what needs to be the primary focus of any policy. If, by using modern techniques and providing modern infrastructure, agriculturalists make a return that is competitive with other commercial sectors, then it will thrive. If not, it will continue to decline. This the primary focus of any policy should be to modernise agricultural production and the value chain that connects with consumers. That way food security will be improved and the value propositions for both consumers and agriculturalists vastly improved. If the current policy deficiencies are not addressed (and this proposed policy does not address modernisation, productivity and efficiency sufficiently) then little is likely to change. It will just be another 'feel-good' document that is likely to gather dust on a shelf somewhere.
We have a great deal of material highly relevant to this theme developed here in the Caribbean.
4) Yon Fernandez
Any effective Action Plan needs to have mechanisms in place to include the opinions and voices of key players in the society. In this case, being a Regional Action Plan for the Food and Nutrition Security Policy of the CARICOM countries, it is important to design fora where Civil Society, working at the regional level can influence the implementation of the Action Plan. This will ensure not only effectiveness but also the inclusiveness of the most disadvantaged groups in the food security actions. In the brink of food price volatility, the adequate blend of regional actions and policies favouring commercial agriculture and those promoting family farming, will ensure a better level of food security for all. The CARICOM countries present a series of unique opportunities linked to their resources, geographic position and cultural heritage, that positions them in and advantageous situation vis-a-vis other countries in the region. For these countries to make the most out of these opportunities, it is important to have the full support and ownership of the policies by their citizens as well as their active participation in them. Lastly, regional actions plans are important since they allow the later articulation of National action plans and national food and nutrition security policies. These two complement each other in the path towards food security for all and poverty reduction in the region.
5) Roosevelt King
The problem with papers like these is that they do not address the detail. 2011 is the International Year for People of African Descent (IYPAD) and the main theme for BANGO is health, nutrition and food security. Certainly you can't separate the three. This theme contemplates involving all people, from backyard farming and cottage industry to mass production of food. It speaks to an educational campaign debunking the myths that have us in this insecure position. There are some things which consumers should know, for example, that the best food is fresh food and that which is grown in your own country. Importation of fresh food ought to be a no-no because the time lapse will render the food as "not nutritious" because veg lose their potency in a few days. Backyard farming is the best way to supplement food production and ease consumer demand. It is also a way that householders can save on the cost of food as we did in the past; albeit when we had no money to speak of and was forced to grow our own. Here we not only save in the household but this has a net effect on reducing imports. GM Foods and all these processed foods which contain no natural enzymes and create a strain on the human body to digest is of great concern. Consideration must be given to cultural impacts and resultant shifts in attitudes, where our children have lost the understanding of what is good food. The sweets, fast foods and snacks which our children consider as food is a good example of how we have corrupted our sense of good food. We have listened to those who have used the argument of "Comparative Advantage" to cause us to shut down our production processes and lose our technology, making us dependent on large corporation for our food, which comes at a price beyond what you pay for them. We don't know what is in the food we are eating today. The next concern is the amount of drugs on the market. We eat the food, get sick and then they supply the drugs that are supposed to counteract the sickness. Personal health is not a certainty anymore. It is like Russian Roulette where there is always a bullet somewhere lurking to end your life. The long lines at doctors offices; the productive man-hours lost; the hours that school children miss because of sickness; our children have no stamina, etc. Of course, the greatest challenge is countering the propaganda which the profiteers put out there to entice consumers and give them confidence in processed products. For example, corn flakes is promoted as cereal, when it is not... and too many people feel that KFC is a good lunch. The problem is that we have integrated all these things into our economy and will have great difficulty getting rid of them for healthy alternatives. Whatever happens we must tell our people that good food is the best medicine. Another matter is the hybrid seeds which farmers have to buy for every crop is an added expense. We must return to organic seeds and build several seed banks within the region so that farmers can save their seeds for planting. We must further attempt to protect the indigenous fruits and herbs before they are corrupted by the profiteers seeking new revenue streams. We still have Golden apple, sugar apples, soursop, breadfruit and some others which have not been modified and we must seek to protect these from exploitation. Coconut water for example is set to be the next power drink in the USA moving to a multi-million dollar industry in just a year. Finally, free trade is the final straw in making us totally dependent. Our only weapon against this is consumer education. Furthermore, any capacity building should contemplate facilities in each country that will research the nutritional and medicinal value of our plants as well as to equip small scale production on a cooperative basis. Foremost, capacity building must include a large investment in making findings widely available. This includes investment in technology, especially to equip the region with the necessary bandwidth for simple uses and for reaching remote areas. What we have is an effective monopoly situation which seeks to milk the most money from the least investment. This is holding us back as a region by rendering us "not competitive enough" because we are without the capacity for high volume flows of information. Food Security has many aspects but the IYPAD Global team, founded and led by BANGO, started to look into the most obvious issues, given the urgency. The areas being acted on are: