Food Insecurity - A Threat to Sustainable Development in the Caribbean

The Caribbean region is the most food insecure region of the Americas. One of the principal reasons for this situation is low levels of investment in the food and agricultural sectors. There are some people in the Caribbean societies who believe that we in the Caribbean should abandon the agricultural sector and invest in a true service economy based on tourism and financial services, that we should create a tourist resort for the rich and famous, sell our land to the highest bidders for real estate, housing and golf courses and we should import all our food. However, it is now becoming clear to all that a service economy that produces nothing to sell except sea and sand is not sustainable. In order to develop and reduce our vulnerability to external shocks, we must change our allocation of public finances and allocate more resources to the promotion of agriculture, entrepreneurship, innovation and food security. There is need for our agricultural sectors and our manufacturing sectors working together to promote agro-industries to grow our economies and create employment opportunities for our people.