Soil erosion and environmental degradation are serious problems facing food security in Haiti. In 1999, the annual soil loss due to erosion was estimated at 36 million m3 tons. The government of Haiti has been aware of these deteriorating conditions and has sought international assistance to...

The concept of food insecurity at the household and individual levels has been an area of extensive research in the late 1980s by individual researchers and public agencies. This work culminated in the development of the US Food Security Survey Module (FSSM), which is now seem to be the standard...

In 1998, the need for improvements in the food safety system of countries of the Caribbean was recognized in a meeting of CARICOM Ministers of Agriculture in Jamaica. A properly functioning food safety system should ensure that all food consumed in a country, whether produced locally or imported...

Protecting human health in today's global food market is an important challenge and one which must be addressed through internationally recognized food safety systems. The overall responsibility for food safety is shared by all segments of the food system, including the various industry sectors,...

The paper examines the performance of the agricultural sector over the 10 year period 1995-2004. Indicators suggest that investments in Agricultural Research and Development (used as a proxy for the quantum of technology generated) have had little impact on agricultural production. In this...

Trinidad and Tobago produces a fine flavour cocoa that attracts a premium price on the international market. The country has a long and distinguished record in agronomy and production of cocoa and is home to the Cocoa Research Unit, which attracts international notice and funding. However, cocoa...

International studies and epidemiological data have revealed a strong association between salmonellosis and chicken meat. This association provides serious challenges for food safety and international trade. Microbiological Risk Assessment is a food safety tool that is used to determine the...

Several Caribbean sugar producing countries are actively looking for viable alternatives to recover some of the expected lost revenues due to the WTO (World Trade Organization) ruling that sugar subsidies in the European Union (EU) are illegal. One alternative worth considering is exporting...

This paper is based on the premise that if CARICOM’s agricultural sector in general, and more specifically the export sub-sector, is to thrive in the rapidly changing trade environment there has to be a continuous systematic assessment of market opportunities and competitiveness status. Such...

A number of studies have detected high levels of pesticide residues in surface water and aquatic life in Jamaica and acute pesticide poisoning is believed to be widespread there. Despite efforts by the Jamaican government to create awareness of the dangers of pesticides and adopt safe a...