Spotlight on backyard gardening as climate change threatens global food security
Published:Monday | October 23, 2023 | 12:06 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
Floyd Green, the portfolio minister for agriculture, fisheries and mining, has indicated that a fresh and concentrated backyard-gardening initiative will begin at the start of next month.
The minister’s declaration comes in the wake of the grave danger that climate-change poses to global food security and the long-term efforts at poverty eradication.
“I’m using this World Food Day to announce that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will be embarking on a new backyard-garden programme starting on the first of November,” Green said.
The minister said that, of utmost importance is “communicating to regular Jamaicans the importance of farming, and how challenging farming can be, and also helping our householders get some food security on a household level [through] backyard gardening”.
Green was speaking last Thursday during a World Food Day ceremony and exposition hosted at Newell High School in St Elizabeth.
According to the minister, the new backyard-gardening initiative is aimed at creating food security and promoting sustainable farming techniques across Jamaica.
The ministry will provide roughly 3,000 backyard-gardening kits on a first-come-first-served basis across the island as part of the initiative.
“We’re going to be using technology so people can apply for their backyard-gardening kit,” Green explained, adding that each recipient would be partnered with the Rural Agriculture Development Authority (RADA), which will give vital assistance and track the success of the backyard gardens.
Strategy food security
He informed St Elizabeth locals that the initiative was not only about boosting agriculture, but rather a part of a comprehensive strategy toward achieving food security.
“We are taking a full-360 [degree] approach to the concept of food security and it’s very important that all of us recognise that we have a role to play,” he said.
At the same time, he is pleading for greater use of our resources, pointing out that with a changing climate, there is a greater need for water conservation and responsible usage, particularly on farms, while recognising the finite nature of water resources and emphasising the critical role water plays in farming and life itself.
“We can run out of water, so we need to ensure that in our use of water we are careful, and we are truly conserving when we are on our farms, using the methodologies that reduce water consumption while increasing our productivity,” he said.