AGRICULTURE DEMANDS NEW STRATEGIC FOCUS ...SAYS PM GOLDING:

OCT 28, 2009

AGRICULTURE DEMANDS NEW STRATEGIC FOCUS

...SAYS PM GOLDING:

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says that from a macro- economic standpoint, the survival of countries like Jamaica demands a new strategic focus on agriculture.

Mr. Golding was speaking last night at the opening of the 5^th hemispheric meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas and the 15^th regular meeting of the Inter-American  Board of Agriculture. The week-long meeting at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Montego Bay, is being attended by delegates from 34 countries of the Americas.

Mr. Golding said that even as we contemplate the impact of the global recession, the momentum we thought we were on, may have been disturbed and disrupted, but our response cannot be to wring our hands in despair. ‘Indeed for the very reason of that dislocation and the setback we have suffered, we should see those as a cause to redouble our efforts to build our capacity so we can secure a better quality of life for our people'.

He said it is a challenge to re-energize ourselves to face the difficulties of the moment and that the need was now more compelling to improve our food security, a call made earlier in an address by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza and the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Dr Chelston Braithwaite.

The Prime Minister said that if increased productivity and the call to grow   more of what we eat were important two years ago, they are now more commanding and compelling imperatives. He said the region had failed to utilize the natural gifts of a good supportive climate for agriculture.  The Prime Minister cited some of the challenges which may have prevented us from converting our assets which could have made us agriculture producing powerhouses and which will ensure that after the recession has receded, we can find our way to a path of sustained growth:

Cue in (3: 48):  We have to move more purposefully....

Cue out (ends at 4:51): ...in a way that that it was not possible before...

 Prime Minister Bruce Golding: