Region’s most vulnerable at risk of hunger, malnutrition – CARDI

The Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) says that although the world is producing enough food to feed its more than seven billion people, widening inequality gaps are threatening the most vulnerable with hunger and malnutrition.

In May, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated that the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean would increase from 3.4 million to 13.7 million over the course of 2020.

“COVID-19 has placed the region’s food insecurity in the spotlight. As countries slowly embark on post-COVID-19 recovery plans, we must be mindful and fiercely guard against a hunger pandemic. As rebuilding efforts continue, it is important that plans are grounded in improving productivity, access and availability to safe, nutritious food, climate proofing the sector and preventing food wastage,” CARDI Executive Director Dr Barton Clarke has warned.

His message comes as today is celebrated as World Food Day, under the theme ‘Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together. Our Actions are Our Future’.

Clarke highlighted some of the areas in which CARDI is working to improve regional food and nutrition security.

He said that the institute continues to leverage its extensive network of regional and national partners to ensure the agriculture sector is productive, resilient and sustainable and continues to support initiatives which target vulnerable households to expand and improve emergency food assistance and social protection programmes.

Ongoing evaluation trials for key commodities such as roots and tubers, herbs and spices, coconuts and small ruminants are geared towards improving the quality and availability of planting materials and introducing new technologies and practices for boosting productivity.

“Resilience continues to be a priority area to guarantee impacted countries and communities quickly recover from climate-related shocks. Evaluations on drought tolerance and other resilient high-yielding varieties are ongoing in Jamaica and other territories. Complementing this work are focused efforts on preserving and safeguarding local agro biodiversity,” he pointed out.

“Availability and affordability to nutritious food must be a pillar in all countries’ development plans. In Belize, yield trials are ongoing to identify and select the most adaptable bio-fortified beans. These beans will be useful in delivering much-needed micronutrients to lower-income families, where nutritional needs are largely unmet across the Caribbean,” Clarke added.