WESTERN BUREAU:
THERE IS concern that Jamaica could face a food crisis if the State does not put a stop to the transformation of the country's best agricultural lands into housing solutions.
The concern was raised by Marjorie Stair, agricultural expert and manager of The Gleaner's Western Bureau, in her address to the Rotary Club of Montego Bay recently.
Mrs. Stair also charged that both the Government and Opposition have failed to have meaningful discussions on the issue.
"Our propensity to borrow other people's money has left us to face a food insecurity problem because we will not have the resources to continue to import the food needed nor the agricultural capacity to satisfy demand," she said.
"Isn't it ironic that as cows have become pests and weeds, we are unable to even meet part way the demands for local beef with the fallout of US imports because of mad cow disease?"
The agricultural expert, with over 30 years experience in the field, said that international agricultural policy and the absence of a meaningful domestic agricultural policy "have probably contributed more to the transformation in Jamaica over the past decade."
"Hunger and food insecurity have costs and as a matter of fact they are very expensive. The people that are hungry pay almost immediately and of course most painfully," Mrs. Stair stressed.
"The director of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) tells us that we do not have the excuse that we cannot grow enough or that we do not know enough about how to eliminate hunger."
