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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Nov 02 2015, CNS – Land availability is posing a major challenge for Barbadian authorities, with differing views on whether it should be used for agriculture or commercial development and housing.
Barbadian farmer Trevor Bostic, 67, told Caribbean News Service (CNS) that this is one of the major challenges facing the island’s agricultural sector.
“We only have 166 square miles and there is this serious competition for development and a lot of the agricultural land is being used up,” Botic told CNS on the sidelines of the Caribbean–Pacific Agri-Food Forum which opens here Monday.
“An effort is made in many cases to use that agricultural land for what they call greater economic use which many persons perceive to be buildings, whether it is commercial or housing development. We are a small country and this is one of the major challenges that we have for agriculture.”
For Bostic, the choice is clear when it comes to food production and commercial development.
He recalled back in the 40s when the plantations were mandated to plant root crops to sustain the population.
“I think that somewhere in the future persons are going to have to come to the realisation in Barbados and the Caribbean that they have to produce, if not all of their food at least a part of their food,” he said.
“That is where the question of food security or food sovereignty will come into play. Because in the event that there is any disaster in the major countries from which we import food, what are we going to do? I think such experiences will drive the society to the reality that you need to produce food even if not in total, in part, because while we might not be able to sustain ourselves we can make an effort,” Bostic added.
The Caribbean–Pacific Agri-Food Forum will be implemented over five days in Barbados. It brings together more than 250 leaders, decision-makers and agri-food actors to engage in collective actions that can contribute to the transformative efforts of agriculture and the rural milieu.
