Cape Environment science

• Agriculture


  The creating of plants and animals to produce food for human use and consumption, animal consumption and raw materials
• Farming system


  Integrates different inputs into a productive system
• Main agricultural systems in the Caribbean


  • Peasant farming
  • Subsistence farming
  • Commercial farming
• Peasant farming system


  • Small areas of land cleared and burned, no agrochemical or energy inputs, low productivity, produce consumed by farmers and families
• Subsistence farming system


  • Larger areas of land, may use some agrochemicals and energy, more labour intensive, low productivity, produce consumed by farmers and families with excess sold
• Commercial farming system


  • Extremely large areas of land, no burning, high inputs of agrochemicals, energy and labour, very high productivity, produce mainly for selling to make a profit
• Many factors have contributed to the evolution of the agricultural systems found in the Caribbean
• Factors contributing to evolution of agriculture systems in the Caribbean

  • Climate
  • Availability of land and fertility of soils
  • History
  • Labour
• In the Caribbean, most agricultural communities are rural and activities are centred on working and tending to agricultural plots
• A substantial percentage of the population of some rural communities are directly employed in agricultural activities as farmers, processors, and in the transport sector
• Aquaculture


  The farming of aquatic species
• Mariculture


  The production of food from exclusively marine organisms in their natural environment
• There has been an increase in aquaculture activities in the Caribbean due to factors like rising costs of fishing operations, decreased marine fish production, need for alternative employment, and demand for high-cost species
• Objectives of aquaculture in Caribbean countries

  • Production of protein-rich, nourishing, palatable and easily digestible food
  • Providing new species and strengthening stocks of existing ones
  • Production of species to support recreational fishing
  • Development of industries that can create a production surplus for export
• Features of mariculture


  • Conducted in brackish water or marine environment
  • Organisms grow on naturally occurring food sources
  • Organisms generally spared human-induced stressors
  • Requires large areas of sea or coastal environment
• Advantages of mariculture


  • Provides alternative source of protein
  • Can produce high yields at low cost
  • Requires small inputs of food, machinery, time and energy
  • Opportunity for small countries to provide protein and generate revenue
  • Can provide alternative source of income and address unemployment
• Disadvantages of mariculture


  • Excess organic matter settles on seabed and increases bacteria
  • Increase in organic matter can promote eutrophication and reduce productivity
• Food security


  A condition in which all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life
• The five components of food security (the Five A's)

  • Availability
  • Accessibility
  • Adequacy
  • Acceptability
  • Agency
• The Caribbean is a net importer of food and vulnerable to natural disasters that can reduce agricultural production
• Nutrition-related chronic non-communicable diseases are among the main causes of disability, illness and death in the Caribbean
• Governments in the Caribbean recognise the need to engage in agriculture to meet the needs of growing populations
• Traditionally, agricultural products have provided food for domestic consumption, export and food processing facilities in the Caribbean
• Factors affecting food security

  • Decline in productivity of land, labour and management
  • Decline in earnings from traditional export crops
  • Regulations and policies affecting global agricultural markets
  • Growing dependence on imported foods and external shocks
  • Inefficient use of water and other inputs
  • Dependency on imported food due to inability to produce locally
• To avoid food shortages and food insecurity, the Caribbean must find new sources of food, and agriculture continues to contribute significantly to food and non-food production
• Decline in productivity of Land, Labour and management

  Often reduces the capacity to produce agriculture products at competitive prices
• Decline in earnings from traditional export crops

  Arising from changes in trade preferences
• Regulations and other policies


  Affect the global marketplace for agricultural products
• Growing dependence on imported foods and cheap agricultural products

  Often worsened by external shocks such as global market and price fluctuations
• Dependency on imported food

  Resulting from the inability to produce food locally at competitive prices
• To avoid food shortages and not experience food insecurity, the Caribbean must find new sources of food
• Agriculture has been a major industry in the Caribbean for years and this industry continues to contribute significantly to the production of food and non-food products in many countries of the region
• Agro-processing industry


  Subset of manufacturing that processes raw materials and intermediate products derived from the agricultural sector
• Agro-processing


  Turning agricultural produce into products such as preserved fruits, jams, wines and sauces, which can be marketed locally, nationally or exported
• Agro-processing industry


  • Provides numerous employment opportunities ranging from unskilled labour in processing and packaging plants to people with professional qualifications
• In some Caribbean countries much of the agricultural produce is processed between harvesting and final use
• Agro-processing industries


  • Simple preservation by sun drying
  • Operations that use technological harvesting techniques
  • Production using modern, capital-intensive methods
• Food industries


  Easier to classify than non-food industries because their products all have the same end use
• Non-food industries


  Have a wide variety of end uses and most of the non-food agricultural products require a high degree of processing
• Because of the value added at successive stages of processing, the proportion of the total cost represented by the original raw material diminishes steadily