The role and Medium Term priorities and plans for the agricultural sector in Barbados are firmly entrenched in the National Strategic Plan 2005-2025. The agricultural sector is perceived as one of great economic and social importance to Barbados, with a critical role in ensuring that an acceptable balance is achieved in terms of food imports and domestic food production and enhancing foreign exchange earnings, providing the necessary sanitary and phytosanitary measures are met. For the agricultural sector to fulfill this role and perform at its optimal level and to earn the levels of hard currency for which it has the capacity, the requisite enabling environment – which includes regulatory and policy initiatives – must be provided. Adequate time must also be provided for policies to achieve their intended positive results, in terms of increased contribution to Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and foreign exchange earnings/savings.

Agriculture has had to compete for scare resources such as land, labour and capital in an environment in which liberalization, privatization and deregulation have become dominant features. Over the past 5 years, provision has been made in successive Annual Economic Statements for a number of policies aimed at stimulating growth in the agricultural sector. The sector is beginning to show signs of performing at a level that justifies the policies provided.

The development challenges to the food, agriculture and natural resources system in Barbados derive from domestic and external trade and economic factors. These are no different from challenges faced in other CARICOM states. The emerging dynamics of the global economy and market, including the possibility that the current trend in rising oil prices will continue in the future, will bring its own set of challenges and will have serious consequences on the national economy and by extension agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture will continue to adopt a commodity-focused approach in positioning the sector on a more competitive and sustainable path. Commodity specific programmes will be complemented by sector specific strategies that provide the enabling environment for the benefit of all agriculture sub-sectors. Particular priority has been given to those developmental programmes that will facilitate the development of the sector and the country and assist in attaining strategic goals as it relates to food safety and food security, among others.

The coincidence of the Barbados policy goals with regional and hemispheric initiatives provides some a guarantee of support on the regional and hemispheric front. The main opportunities for Barbados to benefit from the regional, hemispheric and international and partnerships are with the CARICOM led Jagdeo Initiative, the Caribbean Fisheries Regional Mechanism (CRFM), the UN FAO-led National Medium Term Investment Profiles (NMTIP), the Summit of the Americas Agriculture Agenda 2015 and the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially Goals 1, 3, 7 and Goals 8.
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¹ Extracted from the National Medium Term Priority Framework for FAO Assistance – Barbados Draft document, 2006.