Food woes should spark Caribbean agri revolution

By David Jessop

On April 7 in Port-au-Prince five people died when thousands of Haitians tried to storm the presidential palace to protest against the high price of staples such as rice, corn, beans and cooking oil that in some cases had virtually doubled over the last six months. It was the Caribbean’s first food riot in living memory albeit in the region’s poorest nation.

This troubling phenomenon is happening across the world as basic food prices pass beyond the reach of ordinary people.

It is a development that could occur almost anywhere in the Caribbean if global demand continues to exceed supply, commodity prices continue to rise and hard-pressed governments reach the limit of their ability to subsidise basic foodstuffs.

In recent months the acceleration in food prices has been compounded by the turmoil in the financial markets. As both a source of energy and an ‘asset class’ for investors, food has become the subject of unbridled speculation. So much so that in just two weeks in April the price of rice for example rose by more than fifty per cent.