Food security, tourism in focus at FHB Conference

Chief executive officer and managing director of the Food Hygiene Bureau (FHB), Dr Marva Hewitt, is leading efforts to strengthen Jamaica’s food security and food sovereignty amid concerns about a decline in both areas in recent years.

The FHB will host its 10th International Conference on Food Security and Sovereignty on September 9 and 10 at the Louis Grant Conference Centre at Sandals Dunn’s River.

“We want all areas of the food chain to understand the importance of food safety. It’s really critical because of its impact on tourism because it is our main income earner,” Hewitt said at Tuesday’s media launch at Sandals Dunn’s River.

“This conference is about sovereignty and security. What do I mean by security? We should be able to feed ourselves. We have to reduce imports; this conference is about that. We also want to bridge the gap between persons who can afford to buy and those who can’t, and it means we have to implore our farmers to produce more; we have to grow the (agriculture) industry, we have to grow more.”

The conference has attracted support from several organisations, including the St Ann Municipal Corporation, St Ann Chamber of Commerce, Western Hospitality Institute, Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Ocho Rios Chapter, and Sandals Corporate University.

The 27-year-old FHB provides food safety training and education in Jamaica and across the Caribbean through certified courses, educational events and consultancy services.

This year’s conference comes against the backdrop of worsening food insecurity in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. Organisers hope it will sharpen focus on an issue highlighted in a United Nations (UN) report in 2022.

That report found a sharp increase in food insecurity, with an estimated 2.8 million people, or nearly 40 per cent of the English-speaking Caribbean’s population, facing food insecurity. The figure represented an increase of one million people, or 72 per cent, compared with the findings of the 2020 report.

Last year’s UN report on Jamaica pointed to a further deterioration. It found that 55.1 per cent of the population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity between 2021 and 2023.

President and executive chairman of the Western Hospitality Institute, Dr Cecil Cornwall, used the figures to underscore the urgency of the issue while endorsing the conference.

Drawing on the UN report, Cornwall said severe food insecurity stood at 27.8 per cent, meaning that more than a quarter of the population faced conditions in which people went hungry or spent entire days without eating.

He added that the rate of undernourishment was between 7.7 and 8.3 per cent, while approximately 22.1 per cent of people could not afford a healthy, nutritious diet.

Equally concerning, he said, is that the Caribbean, including Jamaica, spends more than US$6 billion annually on imported food, accounting for up to 80 per cent of food consumed in the region.

Cornwall warned: “You cannot build a five-star tourism destination on a fragile farm-to-table supply chain. True hospitality goes beyond world-class service – it is rooted in economic resilience and self-reliance. When we import 80 per cent of what feeds our visitors and our local workers, we are exporting our economic stability. The Western Hospitality Institute proudly stands with Dr Marva Hewitt and Sandal’s Dunn’s River (the host sponsors) to declare that food sovereignty is not just an agricultural goal; it is the cornerstone of sustainable Caribbean tourism.”

He also commended Hewitt, saying: “Western Hospitality Institute salutes conference founder and originator Dr Marva Hewitt, whose visionary leadership over the past decade has elevated food sovereignty from a niche agricultural discussion to a national economic imperative.”

Mayor of St Ann’s Bay Michael Belnavis also endorsed the conference, praising Hewitt’s role in advancing discussion of food security.

“I wish to commend Dr Marva Hewitt, the Food Hygiene Bureau, the planning committee, sponsors and partners for their vision and commitment in advancing a conversation that is not only timely but fundamentally important to the future of Jamaica, the Caribbean and the wider world.”

Additional endorsements came from St Ann Chamber of Commerce President Kenneth Anglin; Vana Taylor, chairman of the JHTA Ocho Rios Runaway Bay Chapter, which also covers St Mary and Portland; and Melissa King, learning and development manager at Sandals Corporate University.

The conference has also received support from the Ministry of Tourism and other organisations.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com