Threatening to abort what could effectively translate into a multi-million dollar export industry, not just locally but for the region as a whole, are such culprits as escalating land and fuel prices, trade liberalisation and serious climate changes that could impact severely on food security.
However, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is determined to not only help save the industry but reinvigorate it to create a viable and profitable market that could successfully tap into an $800 million international industry in which 80 per cent of botanicals and other ingredients are indigenous to the region.
Barbados and the region stand to lose heavily "if we don't harness that intellectual property," cautioned local IICA representative Dr Ena Harvey, adding that (high) fuel prices as well, were making 'agriculture uncompetitive".
Climate changes
Include serious climate changes that threaten future food supplies and the ever-escalating price of land that "is going out of the reach" of those who seek to make agriculture their livelihood, and the challenges to food security and economic success become apparent, she argued.
"What was traditionally rural is now being threatened," she cautioned an audience of stakeholders gathered recently at the organisation's National Annual Accountability Seminar held at the Department for International Development (DFID) at Chelsea Road, St Michael.
Now, however, guided by the National Strategic Plan, IICA is determined to transform agriculture "to an extent that Barbados is in a position to increase its exports".
"Right now, our linkages are very weak," emphasised Harvey, noting that the strengthening of such linkages to create strong trade chains was one of IICA's priorities.
"We intend to reinvent agriculture," Harvey told an audience which included representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development; Tourism; Environment; Health; and Education and Culture.
Stakeholders
Also present were private sector stakeholders in farming and agro-processing, as well as partner agencies including the Organisation of American States (OAS); the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAH0), among others.
Some of IICA's main objectives include a contribution to the repositioning of agriculture and rural life; promoting trade and the competitiveness of agribusiness; strengthening agricultural health and food safety systems; promoting the sustainable management of natural resources and the environment; and strengthening rural communities based on the territorial approach.
(KD)