AS THE effects of the world food shortage heap more suffering on impoverished countries, Prime Minister Bruce Golding is urging Jamaicans to take seriously the drive to become self sufficient in the food the country consumes.

Speaking Thursday at the National Labour Day launch at Jamaica House in St Andrew, Golding said the current food crisis was the worst the world had faced in the last 50 years.

He said determining a focus for Labour Day on May 23 was not difficult as there was consensus that the spotlight should be on agriculture.

The theme this year is, 'Eat what we grow, grow what we eat'.

"We don't have much of a choice, growing what we eat and eating what we grow is not something that is just desirable, it is not just a nice thing to do, it is an absolutely necessary thing to do, if we are to ensure that our people have access to nutritional food and food that we can afford," Golding said.