This country will not meet the Caribbean Community “CARICOM’s” 25 by 25 goal, due to the impacts on the agriculture sector, caused by several natural disasters.

The 25 by 25 goal is designed to decrease the food import bill of CARICOM members by twenty five percent (25 %) by 2025.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Saboto Caesar said the Ministry would have to reposition itself.

"What we have launched though in Saint and the Grenadines is a Zero Hunger Programme whereby we are targeting seven thousand (7000) families all around the country, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to establish food production plots in their backyards. I want to thank the management and staff of the Zero Hunger Trust Fund, the staff at the Ministry of Agriculture and we have on board the Farmers Support Company, persons from the private sector and we are seeing Cooperate Saint Vincent and the Grenadines being very supportive of this project. I want to encourage the citizens of Saint Vincent to participate."

The Minister said in the next few years, food and water security would be two of the most discussed issues worldwide.

"If we don't change the trajectory that we are currently on, that by 2050, we can see significant global shortages of different commodities, food items, and what we want to do here in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is to work with the youth, work with persons who are currently farming to expand their production and we are also looking at the next frontier of land to produce food. The idea is to maximize production here on the eighteen thousand (18,000) acres of land that we have left, but we have to look beyond, hence we have signed onto the Agro-Alba Incentive."

SOURCE: National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC Radio)