The politics of food

Jun 05, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Food is necessary for the survival of all living organisms, be they plant or animal. This is why it is so important that the supply of food is not put at risk by short-sighted policies and programmes as happened during the tenure of the previous PNC regime, when obtaining basic food items was something of a nightmare for the average Guyanese family.
The problem was exacerbated by the indiscriminate banning of essential food items such as wheaten flour, imported peas, milk, cheese and a wide range of protein rich food which adversely affected the health status of a significant number of Guyanese, in particular children.
Protein intake is essential for children since it has been scientifically established that iodine deficiency could result in mental retardation and a stultification of the human intellect.
Despite this well established correlation between food and intellectual growth and development, a significant number of the world’s population are undernourished, resulting in the deaths of millions globally.
The sad thing about it all is not that there is an inadequacy of food to meet the nutritional needs of humanity, but that the food resources of the world are unevenly distributed and highly skewed in favour of the more developed countries.
The irony of it all is that the supply of food is so unbalanced that people are dying due to food-related illnesses in both rich and poor nations. The rich countries are now experiencing an increasing number of cases of deaths resulting from over-consumption such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes which are to a large extent lifestyle illness due to poor consumption habits. At the other extreme are the millions of deaths mainly in the underdeveloped world due to food shortages.
This is why the current PPP/C administration has been putting so much emphasis on the agricultural sector not because as is often perceived that its draws a considerable amount of its electoral support from among agricultural workers, in particular rice farmers and sugar workers but out of a genuine recognition of the importance of agriculture to the economy of the country and the food security of its citizens.
For this, the PPP/C was accused of being a “coolie government” and all manner of derogatory epithets were thrown at the PPP/C and its agricultural policies.
Time has proven the PPP correct. The short-sighted and vindictive policies of the PNC administration not only ruined the agriculture sector but created a situation where food was in short supply in a predominantly agricultural economy characterized by abundant fertile lands and an experienced agricultural cohort who were virtually chased out of the lands out of narrow partisan considerations.
Food under no circumstance should food be used as a political weapon nor must farmers be held hostage at the hands of politicians as happened under the previous PNC administration.
Guyana today is very well advanced on the road to agriculture recovery and is once again taking its place as the breadbasket of the Caribbean.
Its agricultural products are reaching markets in all corners of the globe including CARICOM countries, North and South America, Europe and Asia among other destinations. This is a tremendous leap from where we were a mere decade or so ago and speaks well of our marketing initiatives which is seeking in a robust way markets for our agricultural produce.
This is quite unlike what is happening in other parts of the world. A recent report issued by Oxfam spoke to the devastating effects of rising food prices on people in the developing world.
According to research findings done by Oxfam, the world’s poorest people spend roughly 80% of their income on food and warned that more people will be pushed into the poverty threshold unless there is a radical restructuring of global spending in agriculture. In its report, Growing a Better Future, Oxfam predicted that the world’s population will increase to 9 billon by 2050 but the average growth yields have almost halved since 1990.
These are frightening scenarios which cannot be taken lightly especially given the already precarious situation some countries have already found themselves in. Guatemala, for example has found itself in a situation where close to a million people are said to be at risk of food insecurity because of a lack of state investment in small farmers who are highly depended on imported food.
The situation is further compounded by climate change which has resulted in changing and unstable weather patterns which is creating havoc to small farmers who depend on farming for a living.
Agriculture is much more than the growing of crops. It is the lifeline for millions of people who depend on the growing of crops for a living and are therefore vulnerable to market fluctuations or changes in weather patterns. This is especially so for small farmers who find it difficult to recover from adverse conditions and are not covered by any form of crop insurance as in the case of farmers in the more advanced economies.
Huge subsidies offered to farmers in the developed countries discriminate against farmers in the developing world who are unable to compete on a level playing field on the international market.
These are some of the issues that needed to be addressed by policy makers if the issue of food security is to be addressed in any meaningful way.
Hydar Ally

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