THE CARIBBEAN REGION needs a reliable, regional agricultural engine more than ever. The expected 25 by 25The target of drastically reducing the very expensive imports of agricultural products from the United States and Europe has not been achieved by a long shot. On the contrary, the regional food import bill has passed the astronomical mark of five billion US dollars. That’s an increase of 20 percent since 2022, according to the Caribbean Export Development Agency.
The island states are largely dependent on these imports because they are unable to plant/harvest enough themselves to provide their own population with food on a daily basis. This is impossible climatologically, geographically and in terms of available space. For a long time, people were looking forward to the lifebuoy that Suriname – and to a lesser extent Guyana – had thrown out in order to become the food basket of the region.
Last year, Suriname even imported more than two hundred million US dollars worth of basic food, while exports remained at a paltry 66.1 million US dollars
This has been shouted loudly from the rooftops by various governments for years. Presidents and ministers signed promising agreements with counterparts from other countries on guaranteed future food supplies and boasted about them through communications services and in the media. But in the meantime, the agricultural sector in our own country continued to decline.
Last year, Suriname even imported more than two hundred million US dollars worth of basic food, while exports remained at a paltry 66.1 million US dollars. Vegetable exports to Europe have shrunk to a fraction of what they once were. For a country that wants to become the food basket of the region, these figures are embarrassing for an Agriculture Minister.
The fact that the current government under President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons has not changed course proves that agricultural paralysis is deeply rooted. What also certainly plays a role is that the need to invest in the agricultural sector seems to have evaporated due to the dream of the approaching petrodollars. As a result, the local population in particular is affected. Now they often have to pay up to, for example, SRD 70 for a meager pound of fresh cabbage or the same amount for a bag of ten red peppers.
There is hardly any export to the region, despite the enormous potential. Meanwhile, many other countries in the region are left disappointed by the fact that the 25 by 25target that was agreed in 2020 – and to which Suriname has also committed itself – has ended in a complete fiasco. With perhaps a few exceptions, not a single tajer leaf or tomato leaf has been delivered from fertile Suriname.
The country has terribly disappointed friendly fellow nations in the region and has probably lost a lot of the trust they had. And in view of the economic oil boom, where Suriname could use any help, that is absolutely not a good thing.
