Supermarkets Assoc: Time to think about food security

THE ongoing covid19 pandemic and TT's efforts to combat its spread, provides a good opportunity for this country to contemplate the issue of food security. This is the view expressed by Supermarkets Association of TT president Rajiv Diptee in an open letter sent to the media.

Diptee said the past few weeks has been "a rapid period of adjustment" for everyone in TT, with all stakeholders doing practices such as social distancing and other efforts to "flatten the curve." He observed that at different times in recent weeks, "We have seen back-to-back rounds of induced panic buying in supermarkets as a causal effect of hysteria driven by the fear of food shortages."

Diptee said hand sanitiser and Lysol products were among the first "to be completely wiped off the shelves in the early days of the pandemic."

He also reflected on challenges faced by fast-food outlets, as the Government imposed public health regulations to intensify national efforts "to flatten the curve."

Diptee said, "The thing about crisis is that it always lends a pregnant pause for reflection at the height of desperation."

He added, "Desperation brings innovation." With food security being one of the issues at the forefront of the pandemic, Diptee opined that current circumstances provide an opportunity to examine short, medium and long-term methods to address food security in TT, once the pandemic is over.

Diptee said in the short term "that being the immediate period of the next three months," there will be acute shortages of products that have been "hoarded or in a global short supply such as cleaning and sanitation items."

He said local companies have stepped up to the plate to attempt to fill the void.

"There is certainly enough cover in warehouses of both stores and suppliers to fill essential items as well as many local manufacturers to assess and address these items."

In the medium term – the next three to six months – Diptee said there are containers in transit on order, orders to be filled and logistical gaps to plug. He said those situations revolved around a daily changing dynamic involving a disrupted supply chain with circumstances evolving daily globally.

He added, "All stakeholders and actors are operating at the highest levels to ensure the smoothest possible delivery of goods to our ports during this period."

In the long term, Diptee said there needed to be a holistic change of thinking at the greater landscape of TT's agricultural and agro-processing sectors.

He said consideration must also be given to the manufacturing of inputs and materials crucial to the operatioins of local manufacturers.

"There needs to be a change in the perspective of how we view the agricultural sector and its actors and components."

Diptee said he was not suggesting there had been a lack of incentives and effort by the Government to deal with food security in TT. He, however, said there should be a detailed strategic plan going forward to address food security in TT once the crisis is over.