FRUIT TREE PRODUCTION
– to enhance food security
FOOD SECURITY will become a major challenge for the poor in developing countries in the future. As the world population increases in absolute numbers, with the fastest growth rates being in the poorer developing countries, food security will become a major problem for the poor. This critical food-security issue must be seen against the background of declining soil fertility worldwide due to overcropping, overgrazing of pastures, soil erosion, siltation of dams, the reduction of irrigable lands, desert encroachment, farmlands being converted into housing and industrial estates, destruction of arable land through mining, sea-level rise and saline intrusion, and dynamic weather pattern, among other things.
In the developing countries, the well-to-do will always have access to food because of their superior purchasing power and willingness to pay. Food security is therefore not an issue for the well-to-do. The challenge will be how to feed the poor and marginalised, who have little or no income, low or no marketable skills; the underemployed; the unemployed; and the unemployable.
Governments in developing countries will need to pay greater attention to the implementation of systems which will ensure that a reliable, inexpensive source of food is always available to the relatively poor. While absolute poverty may be reducing, relative poverty could be increasing globally. Also, while the urban rich and well-to-do will always have access to high-quality, imported foods in times of scarcity, the absolute and relative poor could lack the adequate disposable income to gain access to lab foods. In order to mitigate the risk and social consequences, the poor will need to have easy and ready access to inexpensive foods. An important objective of this fruit tree programme is to contribute to food security of the poor, who may be underemployed, unemployed or unemployable. This is a critical factor since the human being must have access to food every day, whether they have income or not, if there is to be stability! Jamaica has a wide variety of fruits, such as breadfruit, ackee, coconut, avocado, mangoes, etc, which are important in food security. This programme is about expanding the production and consumption of local fruits as an important category of food.
Against this background, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries is currently developing a programme aimed at creating a movement across Jamaica for the growth of fruit trees to protect the environment and support food security.