What's the future of farming in the Caribbean?

This year's meeting will be held in Antigua from July 2 to 4.

In recent years agriculture in the Caribbean has been on the decline. Several of the mainstay crops for the overseas market, especially bananas and sugar cane, are struggling to survive.

Guyana recently hosted, what was called an agriculture investment forum, as part of a drive by that country's President Bharrat Jagdeo, to revitalise the region's agriculture industry.

Listen to the BBC Caribbean Magazine special on agriculture

Is there really a future for agriculture in the region?

One of the main reasons for global food crisis is the major change in the climate. It is only now that the Caribbean countries are beginning to raise concerns of this issue simply because the food prices are rising rapidly on a daily basis. In Dominica what we must seek to do is continue to plant what we eat and eat what we grow. Look around you what benefits are there in farming for the young persons in college who wants to major in agriculture but when they look at the reality of things, the future doesn’t look so bright.
Naomi Thomas
Roseau, Dominica

I am proud to say my parents were independent farmers. Growing up myself and siblings were always helping in the farms and at home with the animals and poultry and at the same time you must attend school. Fruit and vegetables were plentiful, so was fish. There were no insecticides and pesticides to run off into the streams. Most days it was from the farm to casting the net into the streams and hauling it up with lots of fish. Picture that, I love those days. American farmers can manage hundreds of acres of farm but Guyanese and West Indians don't want to manage even a kitchen garden. Land is plentiful, the soil is rich, start planting, eat plenty and healthy.
Annie,
New York, USA

In my country many years ago a leader said "let's grow more food." We have since been playing politics, we have lost the plot, and instead of growing more we continue to fight each other. It is sad to see the quantity of land we have and still have to pay so much for food. It is not too late to make a turn-around, grow more was viable then, and can be viable now.
Abiose Thomas
Georgetown, Guyana

I don’t think that one should be a rocket scientist to realise that going back to the land is important for the growth of our country. In my opinion the government should provide possible means to enable the farmers to establish themselves in an effort to make food cheaper to the people. We have a college on the island where students study agriculture. However there is no gain in that whatsoever!!! If the government provide incentives for students and interested persons to focus on agriculture we can develop as a country. It is important that we can feed our people first. We must consider the increase in food prices and the number of poor people in St Lucia who cannot afford to even by a loaf of bread. I believe that St Lucia can develop if only we start focusing on effective!
We have gathered all our eggs in one basket by focusing only on tourism. We need to diversify. We need to change our mentality, be more concerned about what we can do for our country and think less of what our country can do for us.
P. Johnson
Castries, St Lucia

There is a lot of talk about agriculture and imports-export. Well we need a certain amount of imports to sustain our tourism plant. For those of you who have taken a cruise, the variety and amount of food made available to tourists is amazing, so to compete for the tourism dollar we need imports. On the local level islanders need to buy local and eat local, keep our money circulating at home. Dehydrate your fruits and veggies and export them, don't let food rot on the ground.
V.Vitalis
St. Lucia

One wonders why the advocates of farming that all seem to know that the Caribbean is abundant in unused land don't just head on down and get rich farming. Very few of the Caribbean islands have a ghost of a chance of succeeding at farming; Guyana maybe? Furthermore islands have upwards of 30% of the labour in agriculture relative to 2% in the agricultural super-powers of Holland and the USA.
Millicent Wilson
Kingston, Jamaica

I am fed up hearing this phrase 'back to the land'. Where is the agricultural land to farm? There is no zoning, they are gone! They have been used for residential purposes. Most countries in Caricom share a common history and language and we still can't have a common currency, travel using an ID and more so work without a permit in another country. Do you really believe that Caribbean leaders can come up with concrete policies in tackling high food prices? They may, but it will take a long time to be implemented or never will.
Nilio Gumbs
Kingstown, St.Vincent

Frankly, I think the Caribbean region seems to be mentally handicapped by greed and selfishness. They are still crippled by the invisible hands of slavery. With so much land available do you need a consultant from some foreign country to tell what to do with it? We have become so academically enlightened that we forgot how to cultivate the land. Is this really development? Where are all the so-called bright minds sitting in the government and universities? What a colossal mess!!!!!
Chris Harvey
New York, USA

I certainly would say yes. You have to learn to diversify your economy. Tourism is OK, but you still need to have an agricultural background that you can depend on. When the Arabs run out of their precious oil one day, what will be left for them to eat, will be hot Arab sand. Don't forget that there are many islands in the Caribbean with rich, fertile, volcanic soil which incidentally is perfect for agriculture. Ask the people in St. Vincent. They have banana trees growing just about everywhere on that island, and I have never heard anyone dying of hunger. However, having a college degree and not being able to sustain your existence on these islands will be a terrible way to exist. Learn to be self-sufficient just like our ancestors were many years ago.
Rose
USA

I don't know what other islands do, but I've never understood why Dominica exports raw produce rather than add value first. Why bananas and not banana flavoured baby food, for example?
Steve Foerster
Alexandria, Virginia and Salisbury, Dominica

Back to the land is a forward move. We should eat what we grow. When I go home to Jamaica I want to eat the locally grown food, but everywhere you see foreign food. When I was growing up in Jamaica, we used to eat organic food. It tasted good and it was healthy. Now Jamaica is following the developed world and putting all types of fertilizers and pesticides on food. When I grew in Jamaica yellow yam was grown naturally, now they are fertilizing yam and when you cut it, it turns black. That is what they are exporting to Atlanta. I will never buy yellow yam in the States.
Lolita Scott
Atlanta

It saddens me when I visit the Caribbean to see the amount of stuff that's imported, and the land left to lie fallow. I spent some of my formative years in the Caribbean and used to enjoy helping my grandparents in their gardens when the seasonal crops were being planted, the joys of harvesting what you grow, some of the crops went to market but the joys of having fresh fruit and vegetable with no chemicals, all organic. Now it seems to be the older generation who have lived and worked abroad and now retired who are again working the land and eating what they grow which is putting the younger generation to shame. It would also help if governments do invest more in agriculture. Grow your own has to be much better than the stuff that has been imported. It just does not taste the same as the ones picked on the day and for use on the day.
R.Baptiste
London, United Kingdom

We know that people must eat food, if not they will die from hunger. So in order for them to survive, they must plant food to eat.
However, presently I don't think that agriculture work as a means of employment is really a good thing for Caribbean people.
Historically, in the Caribbean agricultural workers were always looked down on as lower class of people in society. They always get the less share of the economic pie, since the days of slavery.
Now time has change rapidly. It will be very difficult to get young educated Caribbean people to go back to the soil and work hard as their ancestors did and we should not blame them.
All these slogans about "Eat what you grow and grow what you eat" to me is just crap! Caribbean people are exposed to foreign food and their taste buds will always crave for imported food stuff.
Most of you who are promoting the idea of eating local food, are not living in the Caribbean. Why you guys left the region? I guess some things must have been wrong, why "allu" left for foreign land to seek better opportunity eh?
Hudson George
Toronto, Canada

What better way to show the entire world what can be done? When travellers come to any Caribbean destination, the first thing that comes to mind is 'what a paradise’! Well, what if that were really true? The freshest of everything: fruit, vegetables, fish, beef, all entirely local. Clean water and air because all energy is produced from the abundant wind and all transportation is electric. Talk about the ultimate eco-tourism: all of the Caribbean working together can show the world how to do it right. What an opportunity but it will take courage, insight and great dedication from the people and their leaders. It's time we look at the total picture. The Caribean has everything. It's time to use it or lose it.
E.
California/Grenada

As one grown up "on the land", I do not think it is very easy to get the "modern generation" back to the lands. Educational advancement seems to have diverted people from the lands to the office/bank. I shall cherish that day when we start eating what we grow and growing what we eat.
Ormond V Robertson
United States

Investment in the agriculture sector is central to the achievement of the primary objective of the CARICOM's Agricultural Policy.
Data have unsurprisingly shown that investments in the agricultural sector are less dynamic when compared with other sectors. This may be due in part to focus being given to other economic sectors such as tourism etc, which has helped to create a generally unfavourable climate for even the most serious agricultural projects.
(There needs to be a) "mindset" change entailing a shift of perception from agriculture being something that is full of too much sweat and toil, to a landscape of activities and aspirations to advance the needs for self-actualization.
(edited)
Clarence E Pilgrim
St. John's
Antigua & Barbuda

Back to the land is our best option because it offers Caribbean nations a greater level of economic independence. The more food you import the more of your money is lost to the outside world and thus one’s economic power will fall. Growing your own food would allow the nations of the Caribbean to have a bit more control over their well being instead of having to be hit by every small change in the world markets. In most Caribbean nations the infrastructure is there, we just need to tighten up on our regulations and everything would run smoothly. But first we need to stop talking and start acting.
Akil Jervis
Georgetown, Guyana

We are living in an age when dependency on others for our sustainable development and survival is growing increasingly difficult. We have to learn to be self sufficient and know how to survive when there is no one to give a hand-out. Even if we pay for it, it is still a hand-out and the ones who have it can determine to whom they will sell. Let us support ourselves in everything. It is vital that we do so.
Lovette
Gingerland, Nevis

What is amazing is that the question needs to be asked. Agriculture, livestock development and Fish farming, in the food sector, wind and solar energy technology is another sector. World population growth is depleting resources, demand for food and energy cost is fuelling higher prices. Our Governments must get together and map out all potential agri-land in the region. Create a Caricom Agri/Fisheries conservation plan to protect the food supply for generations to come. Promote agriculture and fisheries in schools. Strategically control the volume of tourists allowed to disembark annually, since they deplete our resources and also pollute our sea.
C Sealy
Barbados

My only question to that is.... only now? Our history and our culture will show you that we are people who made our living in the past by tilling the soil; growing and providing for ourselves; rearing our own livestock. Our fruit and vegetables were more fresh and healthier and we could have controlled our markets. But besides some of these burning issues, if we are to maintain our concept that tourism is the better way to go then we need food to feed our visitors and where is a better place for it to come from than our backyard gardens. This in itself has so many positives; like, for instance, we cut back on our import bills. We can produce enough to even export which will help our economy as in the past. Not only do I agree with this 100%, I support any government who do everything in their power to make it easy for anyone to get involved.
Frankie Thomas
St. Mary's, Antigua

Agriculture is the way forward for the region. Food security was never high on the agenda of Caricom nations with the exception of Guyana since tourism was bringing in the needed revenue and food prices were affordable. Now all that has changed, where recently food prices have sky rocketed leaving the Caribbean with a huge food bill. I am happy that our leaders are pursuing homeland agriculture as a means to rectify this problem. What is needed though is that incentives are in place for those farmers that take the agriculture challenge on since farming is not a hobby within the region.
Being a Guyanese student here in Cuba I can already see that agriculture reforms coupled with good rainfall are really upping production on the island. I am hoping that banks will be more friendly to farmers back home in Guyana and also that the government has special concessions in store for farming materials.
Renaldo Dovendra Puran
Cienfuegos, Cuba