Biological Diversity

AGRICULTURE

Article 20 of the Economic Union Protocol addresses common policies in Agriculture and it states that: “Protocol Member States recognise that Agriculture in the OECS Member States has contributed and has the potential to further contribute to economic and social development”; and “the Member States commit to the transformation of the agriculture sector 1”. This commitment to the revitalisation of the sector arises from that fact that Agriculture was the main economic activity in OECS Member States from their early colonial history in the 17th Century until its decline at the end of the twentieth century. In the 20th Century, bananas and sugar were the main agricultural exports. In the 1990s, bananas accounted for 43% – 70% of the exports of the Windward Islands providing thousands of jobs in the rural areas mainly in Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Grenada. The Windward Islands dominated the UK banana trade with a 65% share of that market in 2001.

Alternately, the agricultural landscape for St. Kitts and Nevis was dominated by sugar cane production recording a total export value of EC$47.9 million of sugar in 1997. The agricultural sector, therefore, has been a significant contributor to economic growth and poverty reduction, especially in the rural communities in the OECS Member States. In that same year the WTO ruled that the preferential access under which Windward Island bananas were exported to the EU, contravened the rules of free trade and therefore had to be changed. This also applied to sugar.

The erosion of the preferential access to the UK market presented unprecedented challenges to the sector. Compounded by; the high cost of production, challenges to access finance, low economic growth/impacts of the 20082009 global financial crisis, an aging farming population, the lack of properly governed grassroots farmer organisations, the occurrence of extreme hydro-meterological events and historical economic dependence on monocrop culture, (among other factors) many Governments found it difficult to diversify the agriculture sector. Consequently, a severe contraction of the sector was observed. Concomitantly, the volume and cost of food imported by Eastern Caribbean States from outside the region began increasing. In 2011, the countries of the OECS imported from 55% to 95% of their food. In 2015, the food import bill of the OECS Economic Union Protocol Member States was US$418 million doubling the value recorded in 2005. In addition to reduced agricultural production, the increasing Food Import Bill has also been driven by the development and expansion of the Tourism Sector.

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Tourism has replaced Agriculture as a primary source of revenue generation in Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia. The Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada have maintained active agricultural sectors while exploring diversification into serviced based sectors. Notably, in addition to international trade, the latter three (3) Member States engage heavily in intraregional trade in agricultural produce. These countries (and to a lesser extent Saint Lucia) trade in various agricultural products including fruits, vegetables, root crops, spices, legumes, agro-processed goods and livestock.

Notwithstanding the challenges outlined above Agriculture remains central to food and nutrition security, and the livelihoods of many persons living within rural areas. Additionally it is critical to consider agriculture within the context of health and wellbeing (poor diets and increasing incidences non-communicable diseases) climate variability and change (increasing intensity of hurricanes and drought events, proliferation of pests and diseases, etc.) and poverty and crime among others. With this view, it became necessary for the OECS Member States to re-evaluate and refocus their position on agriculture and develop appropriate agricultural policies and accompanying interventions that would fully integrate agriculture into all other economically productive sectors. This prompted the Revised OECS Regional Plan of Action for Agriculture 2012 – 2022 (Revised APOA).

Notes 1. Revised OECS Regional Plan of Action for Agriculture 2012 – 2022