The Dominica Freedom Party congratulate you the people of Dominica for your adherence to the social distancing recommendations and for your respect of the curfew and lockdown as our country seeks to minimize risk to life from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are thankful that no lives have been lost of the 16 persons officially reported to have been infected with the new coronavirus, most of whom have recovered. We urge our continue vigilance and pragmatism as the quasi-lock down and curfew is gradually eased.
Thirdly, government needs to consider funding a long-term stimulus package aimed at resetting the economy. This is not per se a suggested stimulus package towards resuscitation the economy in the aftermath of the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as, the truth be told, there is not much to resuscitate. But certainly, the occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic provides a compelling action point to reset the economy as the little life that was remaining in the economy of Dominica is being snuffed out by the COVID Pandemic and there are potentially new trends, realities and opportunities that need to be incorporated into our economic planning.
A foundation opportunity for resetting the economy is in the area of agriculture and agro-processing. Three inter-related pillars should be considered in that regard. The first pillar relates to improving food security. This could include consideration for improving the local availability protein and with much focus on chicken – a major source of protein consumed by residents. But there is also need to reduce risk in the production chain of chicken eggs (in which Dominica is already self-sufficient) and chicken broilers. This means that strategies should be launched to encourage the production of chicks, hatching eggs and feeds on island. Moreover, as the scale of production of chicken broiler is increased and with appropriate supporting strategies, its price will decline and the nation will increasingly be able to reduce its huge chicken import bill in addition to obtaining the desired food security benefit. Some, protection of the local poultry industry is necessary for food security reasons, but this must be managed carefully to allow the industry to attain optimal productivity. Strategies to encourage healthy eating should be launched with the expectation that in time consumers will gravitate more towards the heathier and fresher option notwithstanding a price differential.
Our country produces adequate vegetable, ground provisions, tropical fruits and tree crops for local consumption. Efforts to encourage these should be continued, but such efforts would be more sustainable if our country sought to export more of these products and engage in value-added production in order to extend the availability of products on the local and export market beyond the seasonal availability. Some crops may be excellent to be grown for food security purposes and at the same time, they may present excellent opportunities for export as fresh or processed products. One such crop may be sweet potatoes which are regarded as a superfood – foods with exceptional or very high nutritional value.
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