Russia/Ukraine conflict could impact negatively on food supplies

THE ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine could have a negative impact on Grenada and other CARICOM territories’ food supplies, especially the availability of wheat which is linked to food supply for both humans and animals.

According to a report produced by the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA), pressure on staple grain supplies would push up prices in the international market.

The Director General of the IICA, Dr. Víctor M. Villalobos, issued the warning to the Ministers of Agriculture of IICA’s 34 member countries on June 30.

Any reduction in the wheat and corn exports of Russia and Ukraine, two of the world’s biggest cereal producers and exporters, would affect the availability of grains in global markets and trigger rises in
international prices.

However, IICA added, the increase in international prices has so far been small and short-term. During the conflict, ports in the Ukraine and Crimea – through which the vast majority of grain is exported to world markets – have continued operating normally.

The effects on the countries of the Americas of a reduction in grain supplies in the world market, or an increase in prices, would vary depending on a number of factors, including the duration of the conflict, the size of existing inventories and the productive and commercial structure of each country. Wheat contributions to Grenada’s National Diet is 15.31 per cent while its 1.63 per cent for corn, according to the IICA report.

According to Villalobos, countries that import large quantities of grains would be under more financial and supply pressure to meet the domestic demand, while wheat and corn exporters could benefit from higher international prices.

IICA recommended that its member countries closely monitor market signals and review their import and export strategies for wheat and corn.

Importing nations would have to ensure that any fluctuations do not affect their food security, while exporters could take advantage of the opportunity to obtain better prices for their harvests in international markets.

Between January and April 2014, wheat prices rose by 18 per cent and corn prices by 12 per cent. In the case of wheat, it was the largest increase since mid-2012. The two countries contribute nearly 13 per cent and 14 per cent of world corn and wheat exports, respectively. Hence, any situation that affects their production or marketing capacity is bound to have an impact on international agricultural markets. (LS)

Beauty industry workers learn about standards

Facilitator of the workshop, Rosemarie Charles,
is also an executive member of the Caribbean
Spa and Wellness Association.

By Linda Straker

A number of persons who operate or manage facilities in the growing Spa and Wellness Sector are more knowledgeable about the need for standards within the industry which, according to reports, lacks standards and operates “very loosely” within Grenada and some parts of the region.

More than 25 persons, who can collectively be described as beauty therapists, on Tuesday completed a workshop on “The Application of Regional Standards in the Spa and Wellness Sector in Grenada”. The workshop took place at the Grenada National Stadium and was funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, UKAID and the Government of Grenada.

Facilitated by Grenadian Rosemarie Charles, who is also an executive member of the Caribbean Spa and Wellness Association, the training involved eight modules which covered topics ranging from the difference between spas, salons and beauty clinics to legal requirements for operating a facility as well as to discuss a draft regional standard for the sector.

“Standards are not only for your clients, but for yourself,” said Charles, who explained that the purpose of the workshop was to provide knowledge on those standards and draw up a plan of action to ensure those standards are implemented in Grenada.

Some of the participants at the Spa and Wellness workshop.

The plan of action can serve as a basis for sourcing financial and technical support for improving the quality of service in the industry.

At present, there are no standards within the industry and the draft standard is based on best practices from other territories, in particular the USA and UK. Those who participated in the workshop had an opportunity to know about the do’s and don’ts as recommended in the draft, which must be adopted by relevant regional and/or national standard bodies.

Topics covered in the two-day workshop, which commenced on Monday, included Safety and Hygiene; Products; Physical Environment; Addressing Medical Emergencies; Code of Ethics; and Customer Service.

Charles said that she was very pleased at the turnout, because it shows that those involved in the sector have a willingness to be engaged in continuous training as efforts are being made to implement standards to operate as well as the certifications and qualification requirements for the sector.

Rallying cry

While considerable progress has been made over the past six decades by the various regional family planning associations, new and emerging challenges demand that there can be no letup in the area of sexual reproductive health.

This was the statement made by Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) Director, George Griffith, as he addressed the opening of the 41st Annual General Meeting at the Hilton Barbados on Saturday night.

“We, the defenders of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of our respective populations, must re-dedicate ourselves to uplifting our people. Firstly, by ensuring recognition and respect for their intrinsic worth and dignity as human beings.

“Secondly, to ensure that we inspire, motivate and support our governments in their efforts to modernise those laws relating to reproductive health and rights, and especially which are ancient, while ensuring that we play our part at the community level, by ensuring the development and maintenance of a wider and deeper understanding of the importance of respecting, defending and promoting the social, cultural and sexual diversity, which is a fundamental feature of today’s 21st century world,” he stressed.

Griffith told those representatives from regional family planning associations gathered for the opening ceremony that they must never tire of their capacity to go against the grain of their respective societies, which can at times be “ambivalent, hypercritical, discriminatory, or downright insensitive to the fundamental rights and freedoms of our most at-risk populations”. (JMB)

Gains being eroded

AS the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (CFPA) marks its 41st year in existence, President Allen Bierzynski has lamented that some countries continue to trample on the advances made by the organisation.

Making remarks at the opening ceremony at the Hilton Barbados on Saturday night, he outlined that the newly crafted vision for the CFPA stated: “We envision a world where all people, even in the smallest islands of the Caribbean, have access to non-discriminatory, high quality sexual and reproductive health services, and have the power to make their own informed decisions about their bodies and their health, as well as assert their sexual and reproductive health rights.”

Volunteer challenges

Bierzynski therefore stressed that it was ironic that at the highest level in the region – CARICOM – in some of the largest islands, “there were policymakers at all levels who assiduously work to defeat the advances that we have made”.

In addition, he raised concerns about the low numbers of youth involved with the organisation and within the regional outfits.

“Several of us are getting long in the tooth, and so we need to get our young people involved and perhaps learn from what we have done and chart their own course as we go forward,” he stressed.

Bierzynski admitted that challenges for volunteers were increasing, but encouraged such individuals to keep the faith.

“We will make certain that the volunteerism does not die and working together and making sure that we meet the standards of governance that are required internationally,” he added. (JMB)

Campbell on Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation

MAKING remarks at the opening of the 41st anniversary of the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (CFPA), International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, Senior Programme Advisor, Lucella Campbell, congratulated the organisation and the other regional associations for surviving in spite of tremendous odds.

She noted that the regional family planning associations have gone above and beyond their mandates over the past three decades, as they have to defend the rights of all persons, including the youth, elderly, HIV positive persons, persons of different sexualities, bisexual persons, disabled, sex workers and the poor.

“We defend the rights of the woman as to whether or not to carry a pregnancy. We defend the rights of our young not to be victims of incest or forms of sexual abuse of any kind. We defend the rights of the young girl who became a mother too early in life and who now has the responsibility of not only herself, but another innocent life. The new challenges that the IPPF has taken on in current times require from them strength and determination in the face of adversity and opposition,” she stressed.

Campbell also congratulated the Barbadian branch for its success in addressing a vexing issue with the age of consent.

“In Barbados, as well as several other territories, there is an anomaly in the law, where the age of consent is 16, while the age of access to contraceptives is 18, and therefore, for two years, the law subjects our youth to teen pregnancy.

“Under the leadership of the executive director, the BFPA successfully negotiated a change in the Barbadian law that now marries the two ages, no longer subjecting our young women to an untimely pregnancy,” she pointed out to those gathered at the Hilton Barbados on Saturday night. (JMB)

Wider range of contraception needed

The Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation wants to see a wider range of contraception available in the region, and as such, made it a talking point at a meeting it held last week with family planning associations across the region, which was held in Barbados.

That is according to Adler Bynoe, Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation.

He made the remarks during a recent interview with The Grenada Advocate, revealing that there was a commodities meeting with representatives of the individual family planning associations, aimed at addressing how to beef up supplies of contraceptives to ensure they meet the needs of the public in the most sustainable manner.

He said that meeting brought together the network of family planning association across the English, Dutch and French-speaking Caribbean, and two days were set aside to discuss the commodities concerns.

“When it comes to commodities, I think it varies from territory to territory, so it is not standardised; there are various challenges depending on which territory you are in. But in some territories there is an issue where the governments have these wide networks of government health clinics but they are not able to provide a range of contraceptive options, and so, the associations are trying to offer those options.

“In some respects, we are limited ourselves in terms of the range we are able to get access to, and we want to see how best we can deal with that,” he said.

Competitive position

Another challenge, he said, is that in some countries the governments are able to meet the demands, and this sometimes puts the association in a bit of a competitive position. However, he made it clear that the associations were not looking to compete with the state-owned health entities, but to provide services that are complementary.

His comments came as he contended that the associations, while providing access to contraceptives for the public, are not solely focused on family planning, but also on ensuring that persons maintain optimum sexual and reproductive health. (JRT)ࠦ

CDB committed – to funding region’s water and sanitation sector

SOME US$120 million has been plugged into the region’s water and sanitation sector by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Making this disclosure, the Bank’s Vice-President of Operations, Nigel Romano, said that over the past 40 years, financing had been allocated to basic infrastructure, including water treatment plants and the expansion of transmission, distribution and storage facilities; as well as to the provision of technical assistance to several countries to finance various pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, and tariff studies for water utilities.

“We have also worked closely with national and regional organisations to finance various water sector-related institutional strengthening and capacity building initiatives. In conjunction with our development partners, we have organised various training programmes in areas such as energy efficiency for water utilities, non-revenue water management, and policy development,” he further explained.

Saying that the CDB has been “an ardent proponent of co-operation in the water and sanitation sector”, he also outlined that it has supported several of its partner agencies, and brought the expertise of its multi-disciplinary team of professionals to bear in taking a holistic approach to the development of water sector-related projects across the region.

According to him, the water and sanitation sector would remain a centrepiece in the CDB’s medium-term development assistance.

“Taking into account our own emphasis on managing for development results, we will be doubling our efforts to work more closely with sector professionals and policymakers in our borrowing member countries to improve the overall management of the water and sanitation sector,” he said.

At the time, he was addressing the opening of a two-day Regional Sector Assessment Workshop at the CDB headquarters. (JMB)