The Caribbean is rich in natural resources; no wonder they underpin much of the region’s economy.

The natural tropical landscape alone has generated a strong, unique tourism sector that has seen record numbers of visitors to the Caribbean year on year. The region is renowned for its exotic varieties of fruit and vegetables, so it’s no surprise either that agriculture is the major economic land-use activity in most Caribbean countries.

But the agricultural market itself contributes very little to GDP in the region, as many countries import a whole lot more than they export. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2015 report, almost all Caricom countries import more than 60 per cent of the food they consume, with half of them importing more than 80 per cent of the food they consume.

The report also states that Caricom countries currently import in excess of US $4 billion in food annually, an increase of 50 per cent since 2000. Food imports are projected to increase to US$8-10 billion by 2020, according to FAO, highlighting a huge problem on the horizon for the region as its food import bill is getting bigger and bigger.

The large food import bill is a huge element of the Caribbean’s rising food insecurity challenges. In several essential food groups, national production per capita has declined across the Caribbean, most notably in the fruits and vegetables category. There is also declining intraregional agricultural trade, decreasing foreign exchange earnings due to the collapse of many export agricultural crops, persistent poverty especially in rural regions and underdeveloped domestic food systems in the Caribbean.

The FAO report states that Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti, which together account for 83 per cent of the region’s population, are the Caribbean’s top food importers. Processed foods, grains (wheat and corn), and livestock products (meat and dairy) are among the top five food import categories, accounting for over US$1 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 25 per cent of annual food imports regionally.

From a stability standpoint, Caricom’s food and nutrition security can be described as precarious, given the Caribbean region’s risk due to the high occurrence of tropical storms, floods, droughts and earthquakes. The spectre of climate change and its impacts undoubtedly adds to this risk

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-observer/agriculture-8211-key-to-caribbean_122588