According to the Inter-American Development Bank , The Bahamas is the fourth largest food importer in the Caribbean, behind only Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago , and Haiti. We have the second highest food import dependence ratio (total food imports/total food consumption) within the region at 0.92, which is 21 percentage points above the regional average. This poses food security concerns for our country and has a negative impact on our balance of trade.
The Bahamas Development provides access to financing for agricultural development in crop production and animal husbandry as well as value added processing. The Bank is willing to work with farmers to tailor loans payments to harvest cycles and offer grace periods.
