Food Availability in the Caribbean

The Caribbean sources its food mainly from imports and domestic production, with food aid playing a minor role, except in Haiti. Liberalization of agricultural trade globally has significantly increased imports of food, with only Belize and Guyana producing more than 50% of the food they consume. At the same, with traditional commodities having lost their concessional markets, there has been a general decline in gross agricultural production across the region with the exception of Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to a lesser extent. Drivers of the high food import bill include the tourism sector and raw material for the region’s food processing industry. Products of animal origin, animal feed, cereals, finished goods, purees and concentrate for manufacturing of juices comprise the bulk of the region’s import bill. At the same time the region is not seizing the opportunities for expanded exports created by global trade liberalization. Expanded production for sustainable import replacement and exports is now an imperative. Guyana, Suriname and Belize with abundant land and water resources are identified as the lead countries for expanded production with private sector investment from the entire region. Concomitant with this, the regional transportation issue must be resolved, along with investment in infrastructure at the country level, de-risking of the sector, increased research, improved extension and capacity building and clustering of farmers to work with the private sector. A strengthened CARICOM Secretariat is also required to superintend this thrust.