00:0040 million people in the Caribbean region heavily relying on imported food.
00:05Dean of the Faculty of Food and Agriculture at the University of the West Indies, Professor
00:09Mark Widivara, puts the level of reliance at over 80 percent.
00:14With that, he says, people are consuming a lot of processed foods which are high in sugars,
00:19fats and salts.
00:21As a result, the region now has one of the highest rates of obesity in the Americas.
00:30And there are, as a consequence, heightened incidences of non-communicable diseases such
00:36as diabetes and hypertension.
00:39It's one of the many aspects, including the issue of climate change, addressed in the
00:43book Food Security in the Caribbean, Historical Perspectives, Current Challenges and Sustainable
00:49Solutions.
00:50The book, which was launched on October 15 in commemoration of World Food Day, was written
00:55by former FAA lecturer at U.E. St. Augustine, Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Poole, and campus registrar
01:01at U.E. Mona, Jamaica, Dr. Donovan Stanbury.
01:05The eight-chapter book dives deep into policies relating to food security, the state of food
01:10security in the region, the availability and the utilization of food, etc.
01:15In his review of the book, lecturer at the FAA U.E. St. Augustine campus, Dr. Ronald
01:20Rupnerine, outlines accessibility as another pertinent issue discussed, and the impediments
01:26such as poverty, underemployment and price.
01:29So the recommendations there include implementing safe social safety nets targeted at subsidies
01:34to ensure vulnerable populations have access to nutritious food.
01:38The authors also call for regional strategies to tackle poverty and unemployment.
01:43And the fact is that a lot of our issues attached to food security, particularly in
01:47terms of access, is tightly linked to economic development or your ability to purchase and
01:53buy, right?
01:54So they spoke about strengthening regional trade.
01:58This to me is critical.
02:00That's contained in the final chapter, which provides a strategic roadmap by way of recommendations
02:05to the plethora of problems surrounding food security.
02:08According to Dr. Fletcher-Pohl, there are many troubling statistics, including youth
02:13unemployment, which she states as double the amount of adult unemployment.
02:19Also troubling is the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, which
02:25in some cases was almost twice that of adults.
02:30And also female obesity was higher than male obesity.
02:34She notes that it comes at a high cost if NCDs are involved, with the Inter-American
02:39Development Bank putting the figure for treating diabetes, hypertension and cancer in this
02:44country at $8.7 billion.
02:47The book is available for purchase on Amazon.
02:51Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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