'End anti-rural bias' - JamaicaObserver.com

Saturday, November 21, 2009 6:56 PM

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'End anti-rural bias'

BY PAULA HURLOCK

Thursday, October 29, 2009

ROSE HALL, St James - Dr Chelston Brathwaite, director general of Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), on Tuesday attributed the global food crisis to an anti-rural bias which pervades most Caribbean and Latin American countries.

Brathwaite, who made the point in his address to the official opening of the Fifth Ministerial Meeting - the highest political forum for the region's agricultural leaders within the context of the Summit of the Americas Process - also cited drought, changes in exchange rates, production of biofuels, high oil and grain prices, and increased food demand in India and China as factors influencing the crisis.

Jeffery Hall (left), CEO of Jamaica Producers, shows off a sampling of local banana chips to Dr Chelston Brathwaite (right), director general of IICA, at Advancing Life to 2015 and beyond, one of the exhibitions that took place during the opening ceremony of the Fifth Ministerial Meeting, the highest political forum for the region's agricultural leaders within the context of the Summit of the Americas Process. (Photo: Philip Lemonte)

Noting that the recent incidence of drought in Australia, Argentina and Uruguay is likely to exacerbate the problem, Brathwaite also pointed out that food supplies will be limited by climate change, the extent of which is still unknown.

Recalling the negative environmental side effects of the Green Revolution at the end of the sixties when an attempt was made to increase agricultural yields through new crop varieties, irrigation, mechanisation and use of fertilisers and pesticides, Brathwaite urged regional leaders to lose the anti-rural bias.

"Unless we promote rural prosperity, there will be no urban peace... the rural poor will rise up and contribute to social unrest and threaten democratic governance... It must be our responsibility to reduce the inequality and social injustice which prevail in our hemisphere," he said.

The week-long conference, which opened at the Ritz-Carlton resort on Monday and ends on the weekend, is taking place under the theme, "Building Capacity for Enhancing Food Security and Rural Life in the Americas". In addition to the Ministerial Meeting, several other activities including field trips and exhibitions are being staged to support the dialogue.

Noting that the region was at an important historical juncture with regard to the current recession and consequent loss of dominance by G8 countries on global consumption and global capital formation, Brathwaite predicted that developing economies and populations will grow at a rate double those of the developed world.

Consequently, he said, modern agriculture and rural development would be critical to progress. "These are keys to poverty reduction, improving nutrition, controlling trans-boundary diseases, rural job creation, ensuring food safety and food security and producing sustainable energy supply," he said.

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