THE FOOD and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has chosen as its theme this year, 'Water - Source of Food Security' to highlight the importance of water and its relationship to food production.
"We are promoting the role of the FAO and this particular theme is chosen in conjunction with other international events and the FAO programmes," declared Hannah Clarendon, the FAO representative in Jamaica.
According to the FAO rep, since the beginning of this year, water has been at the centre of discussions in many countries, with special emphasis on 'World Water Day' in March. She added that at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg recently, there were strong calls for programmes to ensure that everyone has access to potable water.
Miss Clarendon noted that the FAO has been working with a number of agencies in Jamaica that are associated directly or indirectly with water, in terms of domestic water supply and irrigation. These include the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Forestry Division.
"This year is also the International Year of the Mountain, so everything is converging on water," she said.
"We in agriculture want to get to a middle-of-the-road position where we can manage water within the farming system, to use it efficiently and to make sure that farmers have access to it in their households and their fields in order to irrigate the land to give us food," Miss Clarendon said.
The FAO representative, with responsibility for three territories, Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica, said that from a food security point of view, water is critical and that is why the FAO is concentrating on this precious commodity this year.
Miss Clarendon emphasised that although there may be programmes on food security in the various countries, without water for irrigation, the farmers will not be able to grow the foods that people require, and to rear livestock to provide meat and dairy products.
