| |
News from Jamaica as of
|
Paradigm shift is needed for countries to boost food production, says Jamaican minister
|
| Published on Friday, October 30, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
|
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (OPM) -- Jamaica's Minister of Agriculture, Christopher Tufton, says a paradigm shift is needed by all countries to boost food production.
 |
| Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Christopher Tufton, (right) addressing the opening of the meeting of the Hemispheric Group for the Implementation and Coordination of the Agreements on Agriculture and Rural Life of the Summits (of Americas) Process (GRICA) on Monday in Montego Bay. |
The Minister was speaking at the opening of the 5th Hemispheric meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas and the 15th regular meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture in Montego Bay on Tuesday.
Tufton said that, "assuming a world population of 9.2 billion people by 2050, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the world will be challenged to respond to an approximately doubling of demand for food during this period."
He said to meet this demand will involve improving the means and methods to enhance primary production, which will have to be supported by appropriate rural infrastructure.
The Minister of Agriculture explained that agriculture should not be viewed just as an economic statistic measured in its trade terms of Gross Domestic Product per capita, but as a critical socio-economic imperative mainly for rural people.
The Minister announced that the Ministerial delegates worked on updating the Agro 2003/2015 plan, which will be adopted as The Jamaica 2009 Hemispheric Ministerial Agreement.
The private sector was given special focus in the meetings to emphasize their importance in driving agro investments for economic expansion and food security in the hemisphere.
Jamaica is the first English-speaking Caribbean country to host this worldwide event. | | | | Reads : 348 | | | |
|
|
More news from Jamaica...
|
