Dominican President Leonel Fernández announced the creation of a National Council for Food Security comprised of representatives from the private and public sector with the goal of confronting the threats inherent in the current global food crisis and to revive the country’s agricultural sector.

...emphasized that the creation of the National Council for Food Security and the strategies put into effect in recent days, will place the agricultural sector among the country’s priorities on the national agenda...

Fernández said that after the elections he will emit a decree along with the creation of this council, naming the designated members of the council and outlining a national strategy to be undertaken to guarantee food production to meet the quantities, quality and reasonable prices necessary to satisfy the national demand, according to a press release from the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

Although he gave assurances that the global food crisis will not have direct repercussions in the Dominican Republic, “because this is a food-producing country,” he further promised that his government will take all necessary measures to guarantee the continued production of food.

The president emphasized that the creation of the National Council for Food Security and the strategies put into effect in recent days, will place the agricultural sector among the country’s priorities on the national agenda, strengthening it through governmental policies.

President Fernández said the global food crisis will be transformed into an opportunity for the re-launching of the Dominican agricultural sector, adding that “the productive sectors should take advantage of this opportunity in that they will enjoy government support through technical and financial assistance as well as research support around seed development which will ultimately contribute to increasing quality and production.”

“This is an opportunity for the productive sector to be more competitive, self sufficient and produce high quality outcomes,” said President Fernández.

He noted that the world food crisis that is forcing his government to take measures has a positive side. He pointed out that there have been considerable price reductions in 6 of the main food products of mass consumption. He said recent visits to the supermarket have confirmed this for him.

Although he recognized that there has been a certain feeling of concern among the population, President Fernández reiterated his guarantee that prices will continue to remain stable even after the elections. He repeated that there will be no crisis in the Dominican Republic especially taking into account that the country produces 80% of the goods and services it consumes.

He admitted that the rising price of oil has generated uncertainty among the population but reported that, in recent days, there has been a drop in prices from $120 per barrel to $112 US dollars.