Dear Editor,
As we approach the end of Agriculture Month 2010, Guyanese would have joined the global community in reflecting on one of the burning issues of our times: the inability of too many people around the world to obtain sufficient food and nourishment. Sadly, it appears that the situation is not getting any better. According to statistics provided by the United Nations there are now 1.02 billion malnourished individuals across the world. Simply put, almost one sixth of the entire human race is suffering from hunger. This situation combined with the current global financial crisis will make eradication of hunger challenging and the realization of the first Millennium Development Goal problematic, notwithstanding the assertions of Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Mr Robert Persaud.
Guyanese, however, should not yield to the councils of despair. I am confident that the international community will find the appropriate strategies and programmes to combat hunger and ensure that the peoples of this planet are adequately fed in the future. One must recognise, however, that this will mean greater investment in agriculture around the world and a more robust approach by the wealthy and emerging countries and their appropriate interventions at the level of the international organisations.
At the regional level, the PNCR has a proud record. In the ’80s, the then President of Guyana, LFS Burnham recognised that the food bill of the region was too high and argued that as a community, Caricom needed to take action to bring this situation under control. Accordingly, in 1983, the Government of Guyana presented a paper on the need for greater agricultural production and the programmes identified in it are still relevant today. The Caribbean region simply cannot afford the enormous expenditure on the importation of food and must take effective action to increase its production of food. The regional approach of the PNCR was complemented by an agricultural plan and a ‘Grow More Food’ campaign that yielded considerable results.
In my respectful view, a continuation of these policies would have ensured food security for Guyana. I would, therefore, urge the PPP/C administration to put aside politicking and political grandstanding and embark on a national campaign to ensure food security at home and in the region as a whole. There can be no greater task facing this country and the Caribbean community of which it is a part. In this exercise all of our institutions and peoples should be involved: the agricultural institutes, the schools, the business community and the Ministry of Education. The question of agriculture must become part of the national conversation.
The philosophers have said that mankind does not set itself challenges it cannot overcome. I therefore believe that the nations of the world will take to heart the need to reduce hunger and poverty and ensure adequate nutrition for the peoples around the globe. I am convinced that a national approach to the question of food production and food security will release energies which will make Guyana secure in sustainable food production and make good its boast that it can become the breadbasket of the Caribbean.
Yours faithfully,
Mervyn Williams, MP