Contact_Vol19No1_March2019_WEB full and final

CHRIS ANDERSON
Bold New Economy
Local produce at the Arima market
jobs towards income sources that are low-emission and more climate-resilient.
It is in that context that agriculture and agro-industry will continue to
attract the kind of propulsion needed to attain pride of place. Adapting to
climate change will necessitate the type of climate-smart agriculture that is
steadily being incorporated into local agricultural efforts.
The current dean of the Faculty of Food and Agriculture at The University
of the West Indies, St Augustine, Dr Wayne Ganpat, understands this. In 2018
the Faculty hosted a very successful international conference on “Climate
Change Impacts on Food and Nutrition Security”, showcasing the ongoing
efforts of UWI and other stakeholders.
There are significant, designated, international resources for industry
support to make local agriculture and agro-industry more climate-resilient.
On a positive note, the UNFCCC’s Green Climate Fund opened a regional office
in Grenada last year. Trinidad and Tobago has yet to meaningfully engage with
its team for project support.
The nascent local agriculture sector
will be predominantly a producer of
goods enhancing food security
Resource conservation
Pursuant to a positive vision of the future, local production efforts should
be concentrated in two symbiotic streams: intensive production for nutrition
security, and specialised/niche production for value-added export.
One challenge which Trinidad and Tobago faces is that it does not have the
land area to produce commodities for export, as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley
reminded us in 2018. There is not enough land for agriculture to compete
successfully on the global stage. Therefore the nascent local agriculture sector
will be predominantly a producer of goods enhancing food security, with a
significant trade in services.
The future agriculture sector will include intensified crop and livestock
production which will require rationalised use of land, water, energy, and other
inputs produced by using fossil fuels. Practitioners will increasingly need to
monitor resource conservation, safety, biodiversity support, and greenhouse
gas emissions.
The major production of carbohydrates will be via root crops that feed into
the processing industries. The preponderance of animal protein will be sourced
from small ruminants including neo-tropicals, pigs and poultry. Refitted grain
legume and vegetable production, using layered and vertical multi-crop systems,
34 MARCH 2019 CHAMBER.ORG.TT