المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

Edward

This is a very interesting set of questions.

Let me add another dimension which addresses another dimension of food security .. the ability to earn income from indigenous foods.

In much of the Caribbean (CARICOM) incomes are growing so most of our countries are no longer low income. And as incomes grow, urbanization quickens, more women work and access to international communication grows tastes and food eating patterns are changing. Women don’t have the time to cook indigenous foods and young people are more interested in international fast food and snacks.

So the food import bill is growing, not of foods which compete with our foods and less is being bought from our farmers in rural communities. The challenge is how to transform the indigenous food preparation and cooking processes into one that meets the needs of urban consumers. The Trinidad and Tobago Agribusiness Association has addressed this by processing tropical roots (and other F&V)  into frozen, cubed, packaged and branded product which urban house wife and young people who no longer can select quality roots in the fresh markets can conveniently purchase together with their groceries. Also they have introduced dried root crops into mixed flour breads. See http://www.ttaba.com/products.htm Based on this increased demand they are able to increase volumes with contract farmers.

In addition, indigenous foods create a powerful platform for branding especially for exports as is seen in Jamaican pepper and jerk sauces which are leading the explosive growth of ethnic foods in the UK and creating a demand for raw peppers in the rural communities of Jamaica.

So improving the productivity of preparing indigenous food in households but by extension in SME processing operations can be an important way of improving food security, in rural households, urban households and through exports, increase the demand for local products from farming communities.

Trust you find this useful

Robert