Food Imports, Domestic Production, and Food Security in the Caribbean

Abstract

Food security is determined by local production, agroprocessing, food aid, food trade, and food reserves or stockpiles. We have already seen that local production in the Caribbean has declined significantly over the past two to three decades, and CARICOM countries as a whole have become net importers instead of net exporters of food. The region is now very heavily dependent on food imports to meet its food needs (Beckford and Bailey, 2009; Deep Ford and Rawlins, 2007; CFNI, 2007; Timms, 2008; Potter et al., 2004; Weis, 2004). In 2006, for example, Jamaica imported some US$1.64 billion worth of food, which was half the country’s total import bill (Beckford and Bailey, 2009). The situation is similar in many other CARICOM countries and the developing world where markets have been opened up through trade liberalization (Short, 2000; Spitz, 2002; Walelign, 2002).