Trinidad and Tobago is aiming to increase food production from 0.6 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent in five years. Food Production Minister Vasant Bharath made the announcemt Friday at the opening of the 14th annual Sugar and Energy Festival, which is a project of the Couva Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce.
The festival started while the sugar industry was an integral part of the lives of people in communities in central Trinidad. Its aim continues to be to harmonize the people and promote sports and cultural talents while encouraging the economic growth of the country.
This year the festival's focus is on food production, which coincides with the change of government and the emphasis on growing more food. The 2010 theme for the festival is "Growing With Energy", seeking to encourage individuals to get involved in agricultural production, be it back yard gardening or grow box.
"The change of name to Food Production is evidence of this. In this regard, we are seeking to increase agriculture’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from less than 0.6% to 3% in five years," Bharath said, adding that government is fully aware that it cannot achieve its target alone.
"We have therefore sought the views and solicited the concerns of the farming community in keeping with the seven interconnected pillars for development as identified by your Government," he said.
The pillars are:
- People- centered development
- Poverty eradication and social justice
- National and personal security
- Information and communication technologies - connecting Trinidad and Tobago and building the new economy
- A more diversified, knowledge intensive economy- building on the native genius of our people
- Good governance – people participation
- Foreign policy- securing our place in the world.
He said the exclusive use of the lands for agriculture fits into the government's priorities, which are:
- to increase food production, food security and food sustainability to satisfy the consumption needs of citizens
- to increase exports
- to provide an affordable source of food for people, while providing farmers with a decent standard of living
- Respect for agriculture, the farmers and the lands
- Affordable food on a sustained basis
- Sustainable livelihood for farmers
- A mixture of traditional and technology-driven platforms
- Regional and extra regional joint ventures to achieve economies of scale and export competitiveness
- Functional linkages between research and development and the sector to strengthen knowledge applications
Bharath said based on several issues raised at last week's consultation on agriculture, the ministry will develop a one-year action to "address the concerns, the challenges, the opportunities, for all of us."
He said the ministry is already dealing with some of these, which include:
- support for infrastructure challenges to food-security
- integrated action on water resource management, drainage, irrigation, flooding, water capture, and conservation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Works and Transport
- linking state temporary work programs with rural development needs
- partnering with the private sector to propel the agricultural sector
- strengthening institutional marketing to support farmers for domestic and international penetration
- reviewing the issue of a crop insurance system
- developing one for the livestock industry
- designing a package of incentives to encourage value-added beyond primary production
- placing Agricultural Science finally back on the school
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