Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security, Reginald Thomas has advocated for transformation in the agricultural sector. He said the way things are done in the sector must change if the country and people must experience food security.
Thomas noted that one of the lessons Hurricane Maria taught the nation is that agricultural resilience is an absolute necessity. He revealed that the ministry for food security will be changing the way things are done with a view to ensuring greater food productivity and healthier food quality.
One of these changes includes the recent ban on glyphosate, a chemical found in herbicides. Several studies suggest that exposure to glyphosate via inhalation or as residue on vegetables is deadly. The ban will ensure that farmers are not exposed to chemicals that could potentially cause lung cancer, and that families consume healthy crops that are not tainted with dangerous chemicals.
The permanent secretary said the government will continue to partner with farmers to ensure food safety, market access, and environmental sustainability.
A technical specialist at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Dominica, Kent Coipel, said his agency is focused on agricultural health, farming safety and food quality across the island. He said this is part of their 2018-2022 programme plan.
“This programme really exists for two reasons: a need in the country to address plant health, animal health, food safety and quality concerns; and at the same time a recognition of IICA work in the area over the years and thus its positioning and capacity to respond to demands in this field,” Coipel said.
Coipel revealed that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Dominica Bureau of Standards (DBOS) in 2018 asked the IICA for a farm certification system where agricultural and food processing practices will conform to international standards.
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