It is a matter of considerable irony that even as a number of Caribbean/CARICOM countries remain engrossed in the process of picking up the proverbial pieces from the destructive assault visited upon them by Hurricane Beryl, and when such limited agricultural sectors as exist in some of the smaller territories in the region would have been swept away by the onslaught, the Caribbean, at least up to this time, has said nothing about the lessons learnt from Beryl’s tantrums for redesigning strategies that ensure its food security bona fides can at least hold its own, to some extent, when weather rampages occur.
Following the initial noises about regional food security, triggered by warnings that had emanated from the United Nations more than three years ago, the Caribbean embarked on a boisterous regional food security plan which, truth be told, has accomplished little up to this time, save and except high-profile gatherings on the issue in various parts of the region and widely publicised excursions into incomplete initiatives like the regional food security plan of which nothing of substance has been heard of for a period possibly approaching a year. Indeed, it appears that since the period that ended some months ago when regional food security enjoyed a high profile, arising out of announced plans to create a regional Food Security Terminal, the ‘guns’ have fallen silent, never mind the fact that, among other things, we knew of the impending arrival of the hurricane season.
At a time when the ravages of Beryl have left some of the more food-insecure countries casting around for support, this is not the opportune time to undertake a comprehensive probe of the theatrics that have informed the ongoing process of fashioning a regional food security plan. Much as we would have liked to say differently, the much vaunted plan to lift the Caribbean’s food security bona fides, and specifically, the assigning of the earliest phases of its execution to the Heads of Government of Guyana and Barbados have regarded little if anything of substance that can now be applied as part of a meaningful response to Beryl’s tantrums.
While there had been a brief period of ‘talking up’ a regional food security plan that included a 25×25 timeline for the reduced importation of extra-regional food imports, it had become clear that the much-vaunted promised Regional Food Security Terminal was hitting hurdles, a truism manifested in the protracted refusal of the two Caribbean ‘lead’ Heads (President Ali and Prime Minister Mottley) to provide anything even remotely in terms of inquiries in the region about the promised Food Security Terminal. Here the question that arises is whether, hopefully, Beryl’s rampage will loosen tongues on the issue of the Food Security Terminal. As things stand, the region is faced with the aftermath of the tantrums of Hurricane Beryl, which include what we are being told has been the complete destruction of modest but critical agri-food sources in some of the smaller territories of the region. This raises the likelihood of worsening food sufficiency concerns as well as nutritional consequences for the affected Caribbean countries.
If it would be unfair to link the post – Beryl food security challenges directly to the failure of the planned regional food security terminal to materialize up to this time, it would be altogether fair to raise with Guyana and Barbados, the ‘lead’ countries overseeing the initiative, the matter of their protracted failure to provide updates on the pace of progress of the creation of the Food Terminal. Unless such a pronouncement is realized, and quickly, questions could arise over the quality of leadership which the critical Caribbean food security undertaking enjoys.
