Raphael John-Lall
Raising food production and lowering the food import bill must be one of the main goals of the next government, advises agribusiness consultant Riyadh Mohammed.
With the general election on April 28, Mohammed shared his wish list on shaping T&T's agriculture sector with the Business Guardian.
Former finance minister Colm Imbert in his budget statement in 2024 revealed that the country's food import bill was a staggering $7.2 billion.
Mohammed emphasised the next administration that gets into power must use technology to attain the goal of increased food production and self-sufficiency.
“They must focus on increasing crop yields through improved soil and water management, creating high-yield drought-resistant crops, and cutting down on food waste if we are to boost food production in a sustainable way. Crop rotation, cover crops, and no-till farming are among the techniques that help preserve moisture, lessen erosion, and enhance soil health. Use technology such as rainwater gathering and drip irrigation, particularly in regions that are prone to drought. Prioritise increasing soil fertility by preventing soil degradation, adding organic matter, and using fertiliser appropriately,” he explained.
Mohammed added that to increase meat, milk and egg production, the country’s next leaders must focus on the factors of livestock production: nutrition and feeding, breeding and reproduction, housing and environment, health and disease management, socioeconomic considerations and understanding animal behaviour and welfare.
“Enhance livestock access to feed and water, breeding methods, and pasture management. To maximise crop yields, strategically apply fertilizers, but consider the effects on the ecosystem. Create improved forage types that are more climate change tolerant, disease resistant, and yield more,” he added.
He also said the next government needs to lower post-harvest losses and should make investments in improved processing technology and storage facilities.
“Reduce food loss and spoilage by streamlining distribution and transportation systems. To cut down on domestic waste, educate customers on how to handle and store food properly. Encourage vertical farming and urban farming to boost food production in cities. Use agricultural techniques that improve carbon sequestration and lower greenhouse gas emissions," Mohammed further advised.
He is also hoping that the next government would develop policies that would strengthen agriculture’s role in the economy but stressed this must be done in an environmentally sustainable way.
“Historically, past governments have intervened in agriculture more than other productive sectors of the economy. Governments have done this to ensure that their citizens have access to a sufficient and affordable quantity of food as well as a fair amount of compensation for farmers.
"While these objectives remain important, the upcoming government should broaden the scope of their policies to achieve other goals, like encouraging more innovative and competitive industries and environmentally sustainable production systems that are more resilient to threats like climate change,” he stated.
Some measures, Mohammed noted, are more effective than others in achieving specific policy goals.
“For example, public investment in agricultural innovation and inspection services is a proven way to boost sustainable agricultural productivity growth. To accomplish policy objectives like improved environmental performance on farms, payments to farmers may be conditionally granted, targeted at specific farms or regions, or both.
"Maintaining artificially high domestic prices (above international levels, for example, by enforcing import bans) allows governments to assist farmers without directly charging the public coffers. These subsidies, however, disproportionately impact the poorest people and are paid for by consumers,” Mohammed said.
Business Friendly Environment
President of the Agriculture Society of T&T (ASTT), Darryl Rampersad further suggested that the next government ought to create a business-friendly environment for farmers.
“We are asking for improved ease of doing business for the farming community. We sent a petition asking for all farmers in production to be able to access the agriculture programme as it is now you must have land tenureship to access the programme.
"We have a large population of farmers that cannot access that due to the criteria and if we want to expand agriculture, we should cater to all those farmers that are in production. Also, why is it taking 10 to 15 years to access a lease for agricultural farming? If we are serious about food production, we need to start addressing these issues,” he stressed.
Another sore issue that needs to be tackled is financing.
“The Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) takes months to process one loan for a farmer. Yes, we have seen farmers accessing the $100,000 grant but what about those that do not fit the criteria to get that. We also met Republic Bank last October and they also said they would make financing available for the farming community and we have been sending names and we are now in April and no farmer from that list has qualified for financing. I believe it is for up to $250,000 and they want to finance farmers who are into production and not just those who own their land.
“Farmers are sole traders and farmers take money from their pockets to deal with the effects of natural disasters and into the agriculture sector and if there is no financing then the farmers will suffer a loss. The question is what the farmer will do in that three- to four-month time span and how will they survive? Again, it is about the ease of doing business for the farming community,” Rampersad explained.
Making it clear that ASTT is not affiliated with any political party Rampersad called on whichever party forming the next government to develop an efficient roadmap for agriculture.
“We need a proper plan. We need to carry out a census in the agriculture community and then we can develop a roadmap for the sector. There must also be training for farmers and the introduction of new technologies for farmers like greenhouse farming, irrigation systems and all these systems,” he said.
He also complained that he has not heard the political parties speaking about agriculture for the election campaign so far, saying this issue seems to be on the “backburner.”
“They are talking about property tax, healthcare, national security which are all important but food production is equally as important. We need to eat as a country,” he added.
He lamented that the ASTT is not getting money on time for its projects because of bureaucracy.
Rampersad explained that every fiscal year, the Ministry of Agriculture allocates a 'bare minimum' of $1.8 million to the organisation, half of which covers only salaries.
“Project funding for the organisation has been very, very minimal. We have made certain request for plans. Right now, we are in the dry season and project funding that deals with issues like climate change like making water available and farming, we do not have sufficient funding. The Giant African Snail pest eradication programme which our organisation carries out has been on hold for almost a year. There are also programmes like safety training we should be carrying out. We have on hold the school programmes. We would do projects in schools to introduce agriculture to schools and we have not been receiving sufficient funds. There has been a drop in what we can deliver to the farmers based upon what was available to us,” Rampersad added.
At the same time, he noted he has been working closely with the Minister of Agriculture, Kazim Hosein who has been "very co-operative"' in signing off and approving funds however state bureaucracy tends to slow down the transfer of funds.
“Everything has to go to the Ministry of Finance for approval and then goes back to the Ministry of Agriculture. So, I would not bash the Minister of Agriculture from that point. However, when it goes to the Ministry of Finance and the release as well, we are talking about months and months after they approved the funds. This is rather disappointing,” he added.