Food is the first thing that people look to produce in any developing our undeveloped economy.

Local manufacturer and agriculturist Mr. Denis Noel insists that the development of economies especially in emerging countries start with growing food for the consumption of the people.

It is only after this is prioritized Noel said that we can turn to trade which is necessary for the generation of foreign exchange.

History, Noel indicated would reveal that during the colonial era the colonies were used to produce sugar in the first place which was then traded. Grenada later diversified into nutmegs, cocoa and bananas outside of our own basic food production.

In the past several years however, agriculture has suffered from a change of focus as far as the economic development of the country is concerned.

Noel, Founder and Manager of Noelville, manufacturer of Nut-Med pain relieving rub and spray along with teas and other products, said as time progressed we have moved away from agriculture as the main vehicle of economic thrust to sustain the country, into service sectors and tourism.

The folly of this Noel thinks is now becoming evident as present global trends confirm that food will be our greatest problem in the years to come.

Noel has long been an advocate of greater emphasis on the development of agriculture, not just for foreign exchange earning but also for the very critical question of food security.

 His educational background and work experience allows the agriculturist to speak with authority on the subject having worked with the Ministry of Agriculture for several years.

After graduating from the Imperial College of Agriculture, University of the West Indies in Trinidad, Noel worked as Land Use Officer for a number of years before he was made Senior Field officer in the Extension Division of the Ministry of Agriculture at around 1971.

Noel was then assigned the position of Chief Technical Officer in the ministry, a position he held for around 18 years.

The now businessman described the person holding the title of CTO as the focal point of development who plays a coordinating role in the sector.

He recalls in 1987 while still serving in that position under the first New National Party administration, bringing several useful agricultural programs and projects to Grenada. His quest took him as far away as Beijing China, Ottawa Canada and Rome.

On returning from one of his trips to Rome, Noel found out that he was to be retrenched by the then NNP government with the excuse that the position of CTO was no longer deemed necessary in the administration’s new structure of things.

This has been the situation since except in the administration of the National Democratic Congress, (NDC) which had a Chief Technical Officer on contract.

Since after that, the position seems to have been done away with Noel said, and the Ministry of Agriculture is now run by a Minister and a Permanent Secretary neither of whom have any technical knowledge of agriculture.

The agriculture sector that Noel recalls when he was directly involved was one of a well structured ministry with divisions responsible for different aspects of development, for example there was an extension department and a research department both very important to the overall development of the industry.

Noel thinks that the absence of a CTO is negatively affecting the agricultural sector while another obstacle to its development is the fact that there is no active and vibrant research department which Noel thinks is absolutely necessary if agriculture is to go forward in this technological age.

With regards to the absence of a CTO the agriculturist said if there is any problem, failure or unusual development there is no one to take charge since there is not enough commitment and training on the part of the officers involved directly in agriculture therefore no one to take responsibility; there is no central figure.

People are just carrying out different functions without responsibility, he lamented.
Noel is at a loss to explain why these structures have broken down unless “ there is a perception that the politicians and permanent secretaries can run the technical aspect of development in the various sectors.”

This he thinks would be a misconception because from his involvement in the field it is clear that politicians with no technical knowledge cannot move the sector forward, and this is one of main problems in agriculture today.

He wonders how serious politicians are when they claim to be supporting the agricultural sector when a key position as that of Chief Technical Officer is left unfilled.

Noel would like the powers responsible to answer the question why they do not see it fit to have in place a Chief Technical Officer in agriculture. In Noel’s opinion unless they see the necessity to have a CTO in agriculture then they cannot be serious about agriculture.

Talking about the increasing global trend of using food for fuel Noel said he agrees with the view of some that this is equivalent to criminal neglect because there are some populations in the world that are suffering from malnutrition and hunger.

He asks; how the world could be talking about food security and the alleviation of poverty when the developed countries are diverting food for the production of bio fuel.
This is enough reason for Grenada to get seriously back into agriculture.

He suggests that people be encouraged back to the land by organizing programs that will see us becoming more self sufficient and self reliant in our needs rather than depending on food from outside the price of which is constantly going up.

Noel said the answer is not in subsidizing imported food but in subsidizing local farmers to produce food.

Noel’s suggested method is to get families back into agricultural production for home consumption first thereby beginning by feeding ourselves.

“We have to begin a change of attitude towards farming by starting at the school level and have programs in place to encourage excellence in farming among our school students.”

We also have to place some focus on optimum yield management, trying to achieve the highest level of productivity from the minimum quantity of land making best use of the limited land space that we have.

In Noel’s words the administration must plan with the people and not try to plan for the people, as a way to take the country forward.

In his view, rather than moving toward independence as far as food security is concerned we are moving away from it.

We have been deemphasizing agriculture in all of our programs and emphasizing tourism while in truth and in fact the tourists come in on the same plane as the tons of food that we import.
At the same time we are developing a fast food culture he said.