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Abstract
The consequences of global food and nutrition insecurity, for example, high and fluctuating food prices
would have had an impact on individual countries worldwide. This vulnerability in the Caribbean is, in fact,
reflected in the recognition that none of the territories are able to produce all the food that is required to
feed their populations and ensure that people lead healthy and productive lives. The extent of this
exposure is reflected in the high food import bills of many Caribbean countries. Do policymakers and
those who most closely influence them, in terms of their decision making for national food security,
identify the impact of global food and nutrition insecurity as a main constraint to enhancing national food
security in their countries? Is food security the highest priority of the various objectives of the agriculture
sector? Using a qualitative approach to answer the above questions, policy makers, planners and key
persons who influence policy makers in three diverse Caribbean countries (Trinidad and Tobago, Belize
and Barbados) were interviewed and asked to complete an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)
questionnaire to rank their priorities. This paper presents some early results of the AHP analysis in an
ongoing PhD study. In terms of the criteria weightings, sustainability of the food supply was judged to be
far more significant than the level of external dependency. And whereas economic trade-based food
security was scored as the most important objective of agriculture, supporting producers and local
agribusiness was the second most important surpassing food self-sufficiency and sustainability of the
environment, as well as, maximising employment in the agricultural sector and production for the export
trade. These results have implications for the plans and policies designed to enhance the level of food security locally and regionally.