World Food Day

Oct 16, 2009 News

…Persaud says ‘quality’ off food is on the decline

As Guyana joins the rest of the world in observing World Food Day today, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud is urging leaders to not only focus on ‘food security’ but also on ‘food nutrition security.’
In a press statement issued to the media yesterday, Minister Persaud said that from the advice given by regional health institutions, there is a continuous decline in the quality of food that people consume.
According to the Agriculture Minister, micronutrient deficiencies in children and other vulnerable groups like pregnant and lactating women need to be addressed, as there are growing problems of obesity among both children and adults arising from poor diets.
“It is my opinion that such problems have arisen in the Caribbean region because we, as a people, have moved away from our traditional nutritious foods and have embraced a lifestyle, including the foods, subtly suggested to us through a blitz of TV advertising,” Minister Persaud said.
He added that in the process, the CARICOM region spends more than US$3 billion in extra regional food imports; and deprives farmers and food processors of a commensurate amount of benefits.
“If the policy makers and people of our region return to the foods that we can produce ourselves, regional food security and food nutrition security could once more be restored.”
In this regard, Persaud noted that Guyana stands ready to play its part in ensuring that the world can achieve food security in times of crises.
Meanwhile, it was pointed out that on this day, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was founded. Guyana is also celebrating one year since the commissioning of the FAO office in Guyana.
World Food Day is being observed under the theme, ‘Achieving food security in times of crisis.’
This theme, Persaud said is appropriate given the need to raise global awareness of the plight facing the world’s poorest people who are faced with hunger and malnutrition.
He explained that FAO’s recent State of Food Insecurity Report highlighted that even before the food crisis and the economic crisis, the number of hungry people had been increasing slowly but steadily.
“With the financial crisis, which came on the back of a severe food price crisis, the number of undernourished people has now surpassed the one billion mark. In Guyana, we have achieved food security and our agriculture sector has acted as an important buffer against the decline in incomes that followed the financial crisis.”
According to Persaud, it is even more important for investments to be made in the agriculture sector, given the additional challenges that Climate Change poses.
For Guyana he said such an approach will be consistent with the theme during Agriculture Month of “Building a new agriculture sector along a low carbon path”.
Guyana has experienced widespread impacts of climate change including extreme weather events, increased temperature and sea-level rise.
The country has been warned through countless scientific studies, that continuing with unchecked activities that damage the environment will result in massive food shortages. “Agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change. Increased temperatures will reduce yields of desirable crops while encouraging weed and pest proliferation.”
Persaud explained that Guyana has taken the lead in formulating an approach, which is the Low-Carbon Development Strategy which will positively impact on the world’s climate for the benefit of all humanity and provide for key investments to attend to national and regional food security demands.

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