Agriculture

After years of steady state investment, Trinidad and Tobago is reaping the benefits of increased attention to tertiary education. The student participation rate – the share of those aged 17-21 enrolled in post-secondary courses – has risen from 42% in 2010 to 65% in late 2014, compared to 2001, when it was just 7%. One key change has been the introduction in 2004 of the...

Many of the health indicators for Trinidad & Tobago are similar to those of developed countries. Well over 90% of the population has access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation. Regarding childbirth – one of the key health benchmarks for emerging markets – nearly all expectant mothers make at least four doctor visits before giving birth, and virtually all...

By most metrics, the agricultural sector of Trinidad and Tobago accounts for a tiny portion of the overall economy. It contributed an estimated 0.5% of GDP at current prices in 2014 – virtually all of which came from domestic agriculture (0.4%) and distilleries (0.1%), according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Meanwhile, agricultural exports...

Cocoa, along with honey, was designated as a strategic crop by the National Food Production Action Plan 2012-15 due to its “natural advantage and great potential”. Trinidad and Tobago is no stranger to the strategic importance of the cocoa bean. As far back as 1830, it was the third-largest producer of cocoa in the world, accounting for 20% of total global production....

On July 29, 2014, soon after assuming office, the government of Juan Carlos Varela unveiled a multimillion-dollar plan to revive the agricultural sector at the National Agriculture Institute (Instituto Nacional de Agricultura, INA). The plan, known as pacto nacional por el agro, or the national pact for agriculture, proposes 10...