Growing food price committee questions

THE Government’s formation of a committee by the to solve the problem of rising food prices raises questions.

On August 27, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Kazim Hosein presented instruments of appointment to 14 members of the Food Security and Food Prices Committee in Chaguanas.

Mr Hosein referred to rising food prices and said the group was being convened because: “The challenges before us are daunting.

“Food inflation, exacerbated by global disruptions such as supply-chain interruptions and geopolitical conflicts, has severely impacted our food security.”

But only days before, Mr Hosein’s colleague, Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon, was knocking the Opposition for “misleading” statements and the “dishonest” use of food inflation figures.

Noting inflation had eased in more recent times, she said, “The acceleration in the production of local goods, particularly through initiatives supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries and the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service, will be expected to contribute to a lowering of food prices.”

The appointment of the new committee is a shift. What that shift adds up to remains to be seen.

The committee’s exact mandate, how and when it will meet, and when it is expected to deliver its findings and recommendations are not yet clear.

While most of the experts gathered are civil servants and industry stakeholders, it is uncertain if this body is intended to remain in place even after the upcoming general election.

The issue of food security is a long-term one and it is difficult to imagine any effective response that is not expansive in scope and duration.

Mr Hosein did provide some clues as to what the members will be examining. The very name of the committee makes clear it is not just about tackling the price of the average food basket, which some say has more than doubled in the last decade.

The issue of deepening food security by bolstering sustainable local practices, as much as it is separate from pricing, is also related to it.

It is because we do not produce enough locally that the market is left at the mercy of global markets and distribution systems, with the food import bill at $5 billion annually.

Of course, the free market should be able to source products from wherever, including items produced at cheaper prices abroad. Foreign markets enjoy economies of scale which we will never be able to replicate.

A key reason why there is a need to access cheaper goods from away is the relatively uncompetitive costs involved in comparable local production. It is still the case that some local items seem like premium ones for consumers, whether we consider the niche market served by Moruga hill rice or fine indigenous chocolates.

However, this is not just a market issue.

It is one of national security. We need to be able to feed ourselves should the global situation darken.

That should be the most pressing concern of the new committee.

The post Growing food price committee questions appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.