BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - MINSTER with responsibility for the Agricultural sector, Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris said that the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis spends at least EC$130 million in food imports on an annual basis.
In a recent interview with SKNVibes, Harris said that although some imports are unavoidable as the Federation is not in a position to produce certain food items, there are areas in which the agricultural sector can be used to evade some of the costs.
"The import bill as it relates to food can be put at about EC$130 million per year. It is significant in some areas. Some of that we will not be able to avoid because we do not have the scope and scales to produce some of the items that we really need but there are other products where we need to be able to do more."
Harris explained that the Federation stands a chance of being self sufficient but, in order for that to take place, the locals must be willing to patronise the local farming community and the government must be willing to give the agricultural sector the push it needs.
He said that it is only when food prices increase that people remember there is a farming community.
"When food prices increase, the people begin to ask why these things are not available locally. For them to be available locally the farming community has to see them as profitable engagement. It means then that there has to be sustained high demand and preference for these goods that are locally produced, and it means that the policy environment has to be such that the critical input that will ensure the endured interest of the farmers, (that) those inputs are being provided at competitive and affordable prices," he explained.
He gave examples of items the agricultural sector could very well produce but is not because it is not being taken seriously.
"We are for example, importing cassava. Why should we be importing frozen cassava when we can have fresh cassava made and produced here in St. Kitts and Nevis?
"We are self sufficient in the production of eggs, in that we can produce enough eggs for the countries for basically eleven months of the year, December being the odd month where there is peak demand for eggs because we do a lot more baking and other things as part of the Christmas and carnival season," he explained.
He said that it is in those and other selected areas of foods and vegetables that the agricultural sector could provide food security and lead to some stability in terms of minimising the exposure of the consumers to the productivity of the price in internal market space.
Harris said that the production of eggs could also lead to the development of a poultry industry which was something that was started sometime in the past but the plans fell through, noting that the industry could produce a wide range of items on a competitive basis.
He went on to state that, for that and the production of other food items to be fruitful, it would need particular facilitating environments which those who would get involved would get the full range of concessions and financial support on very affordable terms which has been a major challenge for people involved in agriculture.
"It has not been easy for farmers to get the financing, credit support and affordable terms, and this will only come if the government or some other entity would provide the resources on concessional terms or on lending terms or otherwise to the farming community and that is really what we need now because without that the farmers will not be able to make the necessary investments," he explained
Harris complained of the concessions, stating that even when the concessions are being offered, they do not always help with because they [farmers] are low income earners.
"Even when there are concessions because we do have duty free concessions on vehicles to be used in farming, the cost for many of the farmers, because they are people of low income, still remains prohibitive, so it is beyond them to do.
He added that it is in areas such as these, the government has to seek new policies that are going to put the critical support for the farmers on a much more facilitative basis.
Harris said that if the agricultural sector is given the resources that they require in terms of certain food and vegetables then the Federation could achieve self sufficiency.
"If the agricultural sector is given the resources that they require in terms of certain foods and vegetables we could achieve a substantial in-debtor profile in terms of self sufficiency in some of these areas and over a longer period of time so that we can expand the period of time over which local produce can be available in adequate quantities."
The Agriculture Minister stated that even a six month period would be substantial.
"Because we would be moving from only being able to do certain things for three months to doubling that, that will reap significant benefits to the country and reap revenue by the farming community," he stated.
He further stated that the Federation would never be able to fully sustain itself simply because some of the important products that are imported are manufactured, which the Federation does not do.
Harris said that if the push needed is to be given to the agricultural sector, the amount of money the Federation would save would be tremendous.
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