In a compelling address on The Morning Point programme, Senator Lamin Newton of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party has issued a urgent call for citizens to revive backyard farming practices, citing critical vulnerabilities in food security exposed by recent global crises.
The ABLP caretaker for All Saints East and St. Luke articulated how the COVID-19 pandemic served as a stark revelation of how rapidly international supply chains could disintegrate, particularly endangering small island nations. “The pandemic provided a profoundly damning lesson,” Newton stated. “None could have conceived in their wildest imagination that global operations would grind to a complete halt. Yet we witnessed it firsthand.”
Newton emphasized that while many residents initially embraced home gardening during the health crisis, most abandoned these efforts once normality resumed. “During COVID, everyone sought backyard gardens,” he observed. “That enthusiasm has since dissipated as we returned to comfort zones.”
The senator highlighted current geopolitical tensions as additional justification for maintaining local food production capabilities. “Given the unpredictable global landscape, we must position ourselves to be sustained by local produce for at least one to two months during emergencies,” Newton advised.
He specifically encouraged utilizing any available land, however limited, for cultivation. “Acquire even a small plot in your backyard and grow something,” he urged, framing food security not as a matter of convenience but as fundamental to survival. “Sustenance remains the primary requirement for human existence—without it, neither survival nor existence is possible.”