SVG ‘on the brink of food insecurity’ — Agriculture Minister 

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is “on the brink of food insecurity” following the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar has told Parliament.

He said that food security requires that food be available, affordable and accessible.

“And two days ago, when I heard the impact on the price of fish, it means that we have to get going and going quickly,” the minister said on Thursday but did not elaborate as he debated the EC$136 million supplementary budget that lawmakers approved in response to the storm.

“And I want to thank the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Finance and for all those who worked on compiling these supplementary estimates so that we can start our recovery efforts and take it to a different level.”

(Please click here to subscribe to the iWitness News WhatsApp channel)

He said a rapid assessment shows that the storm destroyed 90 to 95% of banana and plantain cultivation.  

“The conch fishery, as was noted earlier, is, basically, destroyed. The lobster fishery, destroyed.

“The production of sea moss totally gone, and the fruit trees were significantly damaged,” Caesar said.

He said the technicians in the Ministry of Agriculture noted that there were significant losses in breadfruit, mangoes and avocados.

“And for the fisheries in the Grenadines, over 95% of boats are under rubble. Boats are on playing fields and on the sand, and very little is taking place in fisheries.

He pointed out that the supplementary budget includes EC$12 million in income support to farmers and fishers.

“The formula is being completed for the payment of income support and we are going to look at issues of sales and the acreage damaged.”

He said the ministry will await over the coming weeks a complete statement on the rapid assessment.

“And we are going to have persons assigned under each line item to go out into the communities, to meet with the farmers…

“… we are going to deploy the requisite human resource capacity to be able to fully assess the impact and also in a careful manner address the payments.”

Caesar said he was pleased that the government was giving food security respect of the highest order and had allocated money to buy and distribute fresh produce.

“It is very important in this period that we do not forget, from a dietary standpoint, that whilst it is important to receive the processed goods for persons in the shelters, you have to blend it with the fresh produce.”

He said the government will open centres in Lauders, Lacroix, North Leeward and Langley Park for purchasing, packaging and distribution of agricultural produce to emergency shelters.

The minister said EC$800,000 is allocated to have the facilities ready, buy the packaging material and begin the distribution process.

“I am also very pleased with the allocation for direct production support to fishers and we will be working in the different communities where fishers are affected.”

He said the ministry will assign administrative staff in Bequia, Union Island, Canouan and Mayreau, “specifically to ensure that we capture the information and we do the assessments, so that we can have the fixing of the boats, engines, other supplies, being organised, and persons who have lost the fishing equipment”.

Caesar said the situation in the Grenadines is not conducive to fixing boats so the ministry may have to speak to boat owners and probably allocate space at the Ottley Hall Shipyard and Marina to repair boats and their engines.

He said that under the production support allocation, the government will assist farmers with inputs, artificial insemination of livestock, seeds and seedlings and tractor services.

Caesar said that “at this very early stage”, his ministry will be working with Steve Maximay, who has a certification programme in climate-smart agriculture, and the University of the West Indies.

“I spoke to the lecturer there who will be assisting us with a training programme for our extension staff. And all of this is part of the rebuilding and rebuilding better.”