Vulnerability of the food system of
Curaçao against the impact of tourism
Interdisciplinary Project
Authors: Esmé de Bruijn - 11055790
Maarten Hugen - 11070773 Megan James - 11038950 Hanna Winters - 11020377
Course: Interdisciplinary Project Tutor: Jaap Rothuizen
Senior supervisor: Allison Gilbert Date: 08-05-2018
Contents
Abstract 1
Contents 2
Introduction in interdisciplinary research 3
Problem definition 4
Theoretical Framework 5
Conceptualization 6
Methodology 8
Research design 8
Data Collection Method 8
Data analysis method 10
Results 11 Availability 11 Availability 13 Drivers 13 Activities 15 Accessibility 18 Drivers 18 Activities 19 Outcomes 20 Utilization 24 Drivers 24 Activities 24 Outcomes 25 Conclusion 27 References 30
1. Introduction in interdisciplinary research
Curaçao is an island situated in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean and a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Ministry of General Affairs, 2013). Its area is 444 km2 and the
population constitutes of 149,648 people (July 2017 est.) with the largest density people located in the capital, Willemstad (The World Factbook, 2017).
Small Island Developing States or SIDS are nations that are especially vulnerable (Douglas, 2006). Most SIDS do not have the required resources or land to be self-sufficient regarding their food supply (Kelman & West 2009). Such is the case for the island of Curaçao. Like many other SIDS Curaçao is largely dependent on one specific sector of its economy (Scheyvens & Momsen 2008), tourism.
The increase of food insecurity worldwide has become a major problem (Godfray, et al. 2010). This is evident on Curaçao where food prices rose in 2008 while domestic consumption increased (Walters and Jones, 2016). In addition, Curaçao is heavily reliant on Venezuela for their food supply but a crisis in this country led to a trade embargo between Venezuela and Curaçao (NRC, 2018; Volkskrant, 2017) further increasing vulnerability. Ongoing climate change and sea level rise, whose effects are likely to be more severe on islands (Douglas, 2006; Wong, 2011), will put more pressure on the system.
The FAO (2008) describes food security as the moment ‘when all people, at all time have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’. This can be divided into four different pillars: the accessibility, availability, utilization and security of food (FAO, 2008). Achieving food security is a complex issue to address because it has many different domains, such as governance, social and environmental factors (FAO, 2014).
The effect of tourism on the food supply and security is still unclear and as SIDS depend heavily on tourism for source of income, this relationship should therefore be investigated. This dependence is also the case for the economy for Curaçao where in 2012 services constitutes 83.8% which is mainly tourism, in contrast to the 0.7% in agriculture (The World Factbook, 2018). While visitors from Venezuela has decreased in the last years, continued growth is expected in the tourism sector (Curaçao Tourist Board, 2015).
With this in mind, we want to investigate to ‘what extent the stability of the food system is vulnerable to the impact of the tourism sector ’. To answer this question, we analyze the pillars of food security and argue what the impact is of environmental/socio-economic drivers affected by the tourism sector on the availability/utilization/accessibility of food on Curaçao.
Problem definition
The increase of food insecurity worldwide has become a major problem (Godfray, et al. 2010). Curaçao is currently dependent on the wealth created by its tourism sector in order to obtain most of its food (Kelman & West 2009). However, this tourism might also be degrading the very natural resources on which the tourism sector is built (Hernández & León, 2013). This paper seeks to determine how stable the food system in Curaçao is and how vulnerable it is to the impacts of tourism. This will be done through use of the following research question: ‘ To what extent is the stability of the food system of Curaçao vulnerable to the impact of the tourism sector?’
The many aspects within this problem are part of a broad interconnected system. Therefore, it would be beneficial to implement complexity thinking to our research to address the food production system and tourism within one problem area. Though many properties within complex problems can be identified within our research problem, a few are prominent.
Firstly, vulnerability which looks at the robustness of a system by analysing its response to certain shocks and the sustainability of its functions. It is heavily linked to the stability or self-organization of the system (Boulton & Allen, 2007). This is evident in the problem area because ecosystems and societies are able to adapt and organize to absorb disturbances from outside.
Secondly, connectivity and structure is seen in the food system and tourism sector because it is highly interdisciplinary with both social, ecological and political drivers. For example, the interconnectivity within tourism can have stabilizing effect socially by providing income while it can cause degradation of ecosystems services and quality.
Moreover, non-linearity, which suggests the input is not proportional to the output (Boulton & Allen, 2007), can be identified because we expect it is unlikely the growth of tourism to cause a proportional ecological effect. This could also be the case social gains regarding tourism as a doubling of the tourism sector would not necessarily cause a doubling of social welfare among locals. In addition, global climate change is likely to cause a more severe effect on islands than continents due to the geological characteristics of islands (BRON).
Lasty, path-dependency suggests that the state and dynamics of complex systems depend on its previous states and dynamics (Boulton & Allen, 2007). Current soil properties, social and political structures on Curaçao are a result of the historic factors such as colonial occupation of the Netherlands. This has caused Curaçao and the Netherlands to have strong political bonds to this day and the reliance might even enhance stability in Curaçao (BRON).
To tackle the complexity of this problem, a division is made in this research into three parts to examine the influence of tourism on each of the three pillars of food stability: availability, utilization and accessibility.
Theoretical Framework
The food systemThere is a large number of research available on the global food production in regard to the world food security issues. As argued by Ingram (2011), to be able to understand the issue of food security to its full extend it is vital to investigate the integrated system including the demand for food and its accessibility. In this regard, Ingram has introduced an integrated food system diagram in which he explains how drivers, socio-economic and environmental, impact activities undertaken within the food system, these activities lead to certain outcomes that determine the stability of utilization, accessibility and availability of food and therefore the status of food security. Figure 1 shows the diagram of the food system. Individual stakeholders are primarily interested in specific activities and tend to focus only on that aspect of the system. Others, not involved in activities tend to concentrate on the outcomes of the system, neglecting the activities leading to the outcomes and the noticeable status of food security (Ingram, 2011). To be able to adapt a clear insight in the status of food security it is needed to recognize the food system as an integrated system in which an intervention will affect all outcomes of food related activities, regardless of the target of the intervention (Ingram, 2011). Based on this argumentation we are using ‘the food systems’ approach to reveal the interconnections between the socio-economic and environmental drivers, their influence on food activities and the outcomes that lead from these activities, from an interdisciplinary perspective, in order to determine the status of food security of Curaçao. The status of food security is based on the three pillars of utilization, the accessibility and the availability of food on the Island. The pillars are further explained in the conceptualisation section below.
Figure 1: Food system drivers and feedbacks, Ingram, 2011, p. 421
Tourism growth
As mentioned earlier, the current economic growth of Curaçao is based on the increase of its tourism sector. The benefits of an economy based on this sector for the overall welfare of the state is a point of debate.
The first theory based on the interconnection between development and tourism is the ‘pro-poor tourism’ theory. This theory explains how tourism can function as a poverty alleviation tool and can help reduce poverty issues within a destination country by generating net benefits for the poor (PPT Partnership, 2004). Driving on the idea that poor or developing countries have the comparative advantage of natural assets that function as a tourist attraction and that the poor communities within a country receive the benefits from a growing tourism sector (Chok et al., 2007).
The second theory undermines the first; in this theory, illustrated by Hernández and León (2013), based on the principle that tourism is bound by the use of environmental resources and that the sector can provide income through physical capital and to the utilization of natural capital as an attraction. In this regard, the use of environmental resources is a source of economic welfare, but at the same time a source of environmental degradation (Hernández & León, 2013). The interconnection between the physical and natural capital is explained in this theory as a predator-prey relation, in which the growth of the tourist sector and thereby the accumulation of physical capital is dependent on natural capital, but degrades natural capital itself in the process (Hernández & León, 2013).
Due to the foundation on the use environmental resources natural capital is utilized in tourism together with human capital in services production. Sustainable growth rates can only be accumulated when the environmental welfare is regenerated faster than the depreciation or degradation due to utility (Hernández & León, 2013). This, according to Giannoni (2009), cannot exist, due to the fact that environmental-friendly nature based-tourism is an unavoidable paradox. A facility-based tourism sector is argued to be easier to sustain, however, leads to environmental degradation as well (Giannoni, 2009).
To sum up, the tourism sector is in its foundation driven by attraction to the environmental capital of the destination. At the same time, tourism leads to degradation of the natural capital it depends on and therefore it is argued to be difficult to maintain sustainable growth and it thought to affect the general status of the environment of the destination country. With that, also undermining the accumulation of physical capital and economic welfare.
Tourism does, however, not only impact the local environment, it increases international connections and homogenization due to globalization (Garcia and Albisu, 2001). This theory describes that due to the penetration of the borders, the destination is impregnated with cultural values, norms and ideas from other parts of the world. Not only tourists are exposed to new experiences, the inhabitants and the culture of the destination country also adopt to the expectations and demands of the travelers (Garcia and Albisu, 2001).
Conceptualization
VulnerabilityThe food system is a complex system in which many different factors can affect the outcome. Vulnerability of this system is in this paper defined as “...the risk that the food and nutrition status of the household is undermined by negative shocks.”(Pieters et al., 2013, p. 13) This definition is used in order to determine the effect of tourism growth as a shock on the status of food security. The change in outcome will show whether or not the system is vulnerable in a situation like this. It is important to control vulnerability in food security in order to avoid future food crisis (Pieters et al., 2013).
In this paper, the status of food security is regarded as the result of the status of the following three dimensions;
Availability
According to the Zero Hunger project by Wageningen University and Research center, the availability of food is based on the integration of sustainable food production strategies in interdisciplinary cooperation. It is the integration of high productivity and innovation in order to maintain efficient and affordable food that is available for more people. It addresses the supply side of food security and level of food production, stock levels and trade are included in defining the availability of food in a certain area (FAO, 2008).
Accessibility
The availability of food does not guarantee food security levels. Depending on social and economic factors it is determined by the specific situation of the household whether food can be accumulated or not (FAO, 2008). Sufficient accessibility relies on robust agricultural value chains and resilient food markets with stable actors within the food system to maintain production, processing, transportation, retail and consumption levels (WUR).
Utilization
Is defined in this paper as the strategies and choices people make regarding to their food intake. The nutritional status of individuals depends on cultural norms, values and taught behavior and sufficient energy intake by individuals is a result of good care and feeding practices (FAO, 2008). According to the WUR Zero Hunger project, utilization can contribute to food security when the consumption of affordable accessible and nutritious food is fostered and food is efficiently used. Food security with regard to utilization includes high food quality, sufficient nutrition, and healthy and balanced consumption choices available (WUR).
Methodology
The aim of this section will be to explain the different methods used in order to answer the research question and the sub questions generated from it. The research question for this research is to understand to what extent is the stability of the food system of Curaçao vulnerable to the impact of the tourism. To answer this question, it first needs to be divided into three sub questions.
1. What is the impact of environmental and socio-economic drivers affected by the tourism sector on the availability of food on Curaçao?
2. What is the impact of environmental and socio-economic drivers affected by the tourism sector on the accessibility of food on Curaçao?
3. What is the impact of environmental and socio-economic drivers affected by the tourism sector on the utilization of food on Curaçao?
In order to answer these questions, qualitative data will be gathered from literature and interviews.
In the table the concepts and indicators that need to be investigated are shown. Furthermore, the section will be divided into two parts, a data collection method part and a data analysis method part.
Research design
Firstly, we want to investigate how the environmental and socio-economic drivers are affected by tourism. Secondly, the driver interactions will be investigated. Thirdly, the effect of the drivers on certain activities (such as production, wrapping, distribution) will be examined. Lastly, the food system outcomes and their contribution to food security will be evaluated. The outcomes are defined by three of the pillars of food security: availability, accessibility and utilization. The fourth pillar (i.e stability) is addressed in the question central to this research proposal. Tourism is the so called ‘intervening’ variable in this research. The theory is that tourism (i.e PPT) will have a positive effect on the stability of the food system on Curaçao. In the research this theory will be tested by analysis of the various concepts (table 1) through examining the literature of the different disciplines. Thus, it could be possible that tourism has a positive effect on the socio-economic drivers, but not on the environmental drivers. Therefore, the research method of this proposal is an interdisciplinary approach. The food system of Curaçao is too complex to be tackled adequately by a single discipline. This way disciplinary perspectives can be integrated to construct a more comprehensive view of the system (Klein & Newell, 1997).
Data Collection Method
This part explains the ways data for the research will be collected. It is divided into three subparts in order to separate the different methods used for each subquestion. Every subquestion has the same ‘beginning’ question in it. For all the subquestions first, secondary data on tourism and the environmental and socio-economic drivers will be collected in order to establish the relationships (i.e the effect of tourism on environmental and economic development). The data on this part of the subquestions is already partly gathered by the individual literature reports and will be integrated and used to answer the subquestions. In order to examine the relationship between the drivers and the three pillars of food security the methods will be explained below.
1. What is the impact of environmental and socio-economic drivers affected by the tourism sector on the availability of food on Curaçao?
For this subquestion secondary data will be used to gather information on the import options and production options on Small Island developing states, like Curaçao. Import statistics of the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) and the OEC - Curaçao will be used to show the data of the products that are imported and the net trade of the island. Also, articles on food production in tropical regions will be examined and it will be explained why this cannot be applied to Curaçao.
2. What is the impact of environmental and socio-economic drivers affected by the tourism sector on the accessibility of food on Curaçao?
For this subquestion the indicator poverty will be investigated through the variable income and expenditure by gathering data from CBS Curaçao website where tables on monthly income and spendings are presented. Other data that will be useful from CBS are tables with food prices and trade statistics from WITS.
3. What is the impact of environmental and socio-economic drivers affected by the tourism sector on the utilization of food on Curaçao?
For this subquestion secondary data as gathered in the disciplinary paper will be used.
A questionnaire was sent by email to two locals of Curacao. By gathering information on consumption patterns it can be addressed first hand. This method is quantitative and was used to gather primary data on the utilization of food by local inhabitants.
Operationalization overview
Concept Dimension Indicator Variables
Tourism Environmental drivers
Socio-economic drivers
- Land cover & soils - Climate variability
- Water availability & quality - Nutrient availability - Biodiversity
- Sea level & currents - Demographics - Economics - Politics - Cultural
- Science & Technology
Availability Environmental
Socio-economic
- Supply side - Level of food production
- Stock levels
- Net trade (FAO, 2008)
Accessibility Environmental Socio-economic - Poverty - Markets - Income - Expenditure - Food prices - Trade
Socio-economic - Quality of food - Price elasticity
Stability Environmental
Socio-economic
- Sustainability of the other concepts
Table 1. Concepts, indicators and variables.
Interdisciplinary data analysis
The secondary literature was analysed as followed: the aim was to find patterns or trends across the results. In the case of the first subquestion is was to seek a relationship between the environmental and socio-economic drivers and the availability of food and how this relationship is affected by tourism. The same goes for the second and the third subquestion: the aim was to look at the relationships between the drivers and accessibility and utilization (Walliman, 2011, p. 86). Another analysis method that was used is the visualization of the data. This was done to create a clear overview and understanding of the gathered data (Walliman, 2011, p. 89).
The many aspects within this problem are part of a broad interconnected system. Therefore, it is considered a complex system. A few properties can be identified in the food system of Ingram (2011). Firstly, vulnerability which looks at the robustness of a system by analysing its response to certain shocks and the sustainability of its functions. It is heavily linked to the stability or self-organization of the system (Boulton & Allen, 2007). This is evident in the problem area because ecosystems and societies are able to adapt and organize to absorb disturbances from outside.
Secondly, connectivity and structure is seen in the food system and tourism sector because it is highly interdisciplinary with both social, ecological and political drivers. For example, the interconnectivity within tourism can have stabilizing effect socially by providing income while it can cause degradation of ecosystems services and quality.
Moreover, non-linearity, which suggests the input is not proportional to the output (Boulton & Allen, 2007), can be identified because we expect it is unlikely the growth of tourism to cause a proportional ecological effect. This could also be the case social gains regarding tourism as a doubling of the tourism sector would not necessarily cause a doubling of social welfare among locals. In addition, global climate change is likely to cause a more severe effect on islands than continents due to the geological characteristics of islands (BRON).
Lasty, path-dependency suggests that the state and dynamics of complex systems depend on its previous states and dynamics (Boulton & Allen, 2007). Current soil properties, social and political structures on Curaçao are a result of the historic factors such as colonial occupation of the Netherlands. This has caused Curaçao and the Netherlands to have strong political bonds to this day and the reliance might even enhance stability in Curaçao ( BRON). To tackle the complexity of this problem, a division is made in this research into three parts to examine the influence of tourism on each of the three pillars of food stability: availability, utilization and accessibility.
Results
Availability
Drivers
Soil Quality
Soil Quality is an important aspect in determining the availability of food. It is a major indicator of the degree to which an area can use agriculture to provide food. On the island of Curacao most of the land does not have soils that have adequate quality to be used for agriculture.
The problem lies in four different factors. In large sections of the island the soil is simply too shallow and rocky to allow for the growing of crops(De Vries, 2000). The second factor is salinity. When soils are too saline this will prevent the growing of crops and this too is a problem for many of the soils on Curacao (De Vries, 2000). The third problem is that many soils have very low organic content in the soil. Organic matter in the soil helps to improve texture and water holding capacity of soils. However due to the arid climate of the island levels of organic matter in the soil in curacao are generally low (De Vries, 2000).The Last factor is the availability of nutrients in the soil. Most of the soils on the island do not have the required nutrients, this is due to the aridity and due to the high resistance to weathering of the local parent material (De Vries, 2000).
Regarding the soils that do meet the requirements for agriculture several more problems exist. Historically these areas have been poorly managed resulting in several episodes of mass erosion that have diminished the quality of the soils and thus lowered potential productivity (Wells et al, 2018; Timms, 2008; Sierra et al, 2015). Poor irrigation practices have also lead to an increase in salinity further reducing soil quality (De Vries, 2000).
Due to the aforementioned factors large sections of Curacao are unavailable for the production of food. This can be seen in figure 2, where the yellow sections represent the areas that are available for agriculture but are not suitable for agriculture and the green sections represent land that is available or already in use. When looking at figure 2, two more categories are shown. The red sections are protected areas and therefore unavailable for agriculture as well. The grey sections represent the human built environment, which encompases most of the island and therefore greatly reduces the land available for agriculture.
The expansion of the built environment is driven by the country’s largest economic sector, tourism (Scheyvens & Momsen 2008). The increase in areas for tourism reduces the land available for agriculture as well as increasing the demand for food these areas used to provide.
Figure 2: land use of Curacao, the green areas are land where the soils has adequate quality for agriculture
Nutrient Availability
Many of the soils that in theory are suitable for agriculture also have the added problem of fertilizer and pesticide pollution (Murray & Hoppin, 1992; Wells et al., 2018 ). This is likely to increase due to the changes in demand caused by the influx of tourism. Demand for products that are not native to the region are likely to increase. These crops will not be well adapted the climate of the island and will likely require a large amount of fertilizer and pesticides to be grown properly. This is likely to exacerbate the existing pollution problem.
The excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides can also have a second negative effect of infiltrating the soils and polluting the already sparse groundwater resources of the island (Murray & Hoppin, 1992; Wells et al., 2018 ).
Water Quality
Water availability is also a problem as the island lacks sufficient groundwater resources (Falkenmark, Lundqvist, & Widstrand, 1989;Mekonnen et al., 2015; Gamble 2004)
and is mostly dependent on rainwater for their agricultural needs (Gamble et al., 2010; De Vries, 2000). However increases in tourism also increases the demand for drinking water and thus put more pressure on an already strained water supply.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity can function as a useful measure for habitat quality and therefore the potential for humans to benefit from these ecosystems. As a result of this, the status of biodiversity is
investigated within this driver. In addition, how biodiversity can be useful for local food production and the effects of tourism on this are assessed.
Though marine diversity has been relatively good in comparison to other Caribbean island
(Miloslavich et al. 2010), coral reefs have been declining in Curaçao (Nagelkerken and Nagelkerken, 2004). This could negatively impact habitat and nursery areas of reef because there is a positive relationship present between reef architecture and fish density and diversity (Nagelkerken and Nagelkerken, 2004). The cause of the coral reef decline is not clear cut as there are many reasons that can be appointed to them, including white-band disease, coral reef bleaching, loss of habitat protection and anthropogenic impacts (Nagelkerken and Nagelkerken, 2004).
The anthropogenic impacts can be attributed to tourism through trampling, beach usage, water sports in shallow waters and coastal development. Would tourism increase on Curacao which it is likely to do, these impacts would be further extended (Nagelkerken and Nagelkerken, 2004). The local community and fishermen could be affected by these anthropogenic impacts on the natural ecosystem because it could endanger (commercial) fish stocks which breed in the reef nurseries (Nagelkerken and Nagelkerken, 2004). Therefore, it could lead to less available fish food for the locals.
However, the reefs and habitat could also benefit of tourism. The reason behind this is that (diving) tourism is attracted to good quality natural habitat and coral reefs and is, as a consequence, an important source of income (Sandin et al., 2008). To illustrate, tourist dollars are often
disproportionately spent in areas near or in marine protected areas (Sandin et al., 2008). High fish activity and high biodiversity are important attributes to please these kinds of tourists (Sandin et al., 2008). In addition, Curacao has shown a better initiative in protecting coral reefs relative to other Caribbean island (Sandin et al., 2008) which provides more hope for the future of the reef.
Activities
Food Production on Curaçao Awaiting data
Import and Export on Curaçao
Like many other SIDS, Curaçao is designated to imports for its main food supply. Import and export data of the OEC has given insight to what extent Curaçao is dependant on this.
As seen in Table X, 4.9 million US$, 70 million US$, 146 million US$ and 45 million US$ was imported on respectively animal vegetable byproduct, animal products, food stuffs and vegetable products which would be a total of 265.9 million US$ worth of imported food products. With a total import worth 1.77 billion US$, the total consists of 15% imported food products. Conversely, of the total amount exported only 4,4% consisted of food products. Thus, Curaçao importing 4.6 times the amount of food products relative to the amount they export.
The contrast between export and export is evidently present when looking at the import and export ratio of vegetable products. Curaçao exports 875,000 US$ worth of vegetable products while importing 45 million US$ (Table X). This suggests that Curaçao imports 51.4 times the vegetable products they export. Therefore, it can be argued that production of fresh produce is very low in Curaçao.
Import (in US$) Export (in US$)
Animal Vegetable byproduct 4,900,000 448,000
Animal Products 70,000,000 40,000,000
Food Stuffs 146,000,000 17,000,000
Vegetable Products 45,000,000 875,000
Total Food Products (in US$) 265,900,000 58,363,000
Total Trade (in US$) 1,770,000,000 1,320,000,000
Ratio: Total Trade/Food Products
0.15022599 0.04418409
Ratio: Import/Export of Vegetable Products
51.4285714
Table X: Import and export of food products and the relative their relative contribution on Curacao (Source OEC, www.atlas.media.mit.edu).
Agritourism
The small agricultural sector is partly caused by the vulnerable nature of the sector to external shocks and structural inefficacies which are often seen throughout the Caribbean.
There are a few causes to the small agricultural sector seen in Curacao and the Caribbean. Firstly, the small size of the island prevents an economy of scale (CTA, 2015). This would only be able to support a narrow range of food products resulting in an overreliance on single commodity export (CTA, 2015). Consequently, these two factors combined with globalization has made the industry uncompetitive with the global food market (CTA, 2015).
Secondly, this globalization which evidently lead to the removal of trade restrictions made it increasingly cheaper and easier to import food products that compete with the indigenous crops and products (CTA, 2015). Paired with the trade openness was an increased reduction of state support of local farmers which further worsened the position of the local market (CTA, 2015). This has resulted in increasing levels of cheap food imports, widening trade deficits (OEC), and a shift from agriculture towards service-based economy (CTA, 2015).
Curacao emphasizes on tourism within the service sector with the sector constituting over 80% (The World Factbook, 2018) with signs of further growth (Curacao Tourist Board, 2015). Tourism has a great potential to serve as source of income for the locals, supporting the pro poor approach (Torres and Momsen, 2004). However, studies have suggested that locals do not necessarily benefit from tourism because of high rates of foreign exchange leakage, where profits generated by tourism has to be spent in other countries (Torres and Momsen, 2004; CTA, 2015).
Nevertheless, studies have suggested linking food production and tourism might be an effective strategy to prevent these risks and reduce import spending (Ashley et al. 2006). For example, the Agro-Tourism Linkages Centre stated: ‘Food and Beverage represents the second highest area of expenditure in the tourism sector. With a reported leakage of 60 to 80 cents of every tourism dollar spent in some Caribbean countries’ (Ashley et al. 2006).
There are many successful organisations and businesses in the Caribbean island of Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Lucia who have linked tourism and local production, specifically on the island (CTA, 2015). These thrive on the authenticity of the business and tourist experience (CTA, 2015). There are examples of these kinds of business occurring in Curacao, such as Mimi’s Farm. Recent developments have seen a higher demand by locals and international for transparency and information about the food they consume. These organizations have the capability to offer this, in addition to producing high quality products and upgrading tourist experience (CTA, 2015).
Tourism companies, such as hotels and tour operators, can benefit from taking this pro poor approach of agritourism (Torres and Momsen, 2004) by gaining a competitive advantage through product differentiation and uniqueness contributing to the tourist’s experience (Ashley et al. 2006). Furthermore, investing in the local economy would increase the security and attractiveness of local neighborhoods which would increase the sustainability of the sector, minimize risk and have reputation advantages for the tourism companies (Ashley et al. 2006).
These advantages have shown that the scale of agriculture is not a measure of success for these businesses but food quality, consistency, product differentiation, marketing and maintaining ties with clientele is (CTA, 2015). Ashley et al. (2006) claims that local produce should not be dismissed due to low supply because once links with hotel demand is established, greater volumes may be possible.
However, there might be challenges ahead for agritourism. These include, supply problems (inadequate reliability, product range, seasonality, packaging, transport), weak market links which could turn companies away from going through the hassle of dealing with multiple suppliers, narrow product range which interferes with demand of some goods that could simply not be produced locally, the perceptions and preferences of local food as inferior, local currency revaluation which could reduce the cost advantage of local supplies, trouble diversifying the tourism experience away from ‘beach and adventure excursions (Ashley et al, 2006), lack of financial assistance and climate variability (CTA, 2015).
Outcomes
This section discusses how the ecological drivers and production activities relate to the availability of the food system which forms the outcome within the Ingram (2011) model.Food availability consists of three factors: production, distribution and exchange (Ingram, 2011).
Production
As stated before, domestic food production on Curacao is low. Various causes can be attributed to this. Firstly, climate conditions are far from ideal for agriculture on Curacao due to lack of nutrient availability, water resources and soil quality which leaves only specific areas suitable for agriculture. In addition, demand for non native agricultural products leads to increased use of fertilizer and pesticides causing damage to reefs and thus tourism. Marine biodiversity around Curacao seems in good quality, though coral reefs have been in decline. A likely culprit could be the growth in tourism which increases beach activities, water sports and trampling. This could have detrimental effect on the fish stocks available for human consumption.
This relates to the theory of predator-prey relation in which the growth of the tourist sector and thereby the accumulation of physical capital is dependent on natural capital, but degrades natural capital itself in the process (Hernández & León, 2013). For example, the use of pesticides and fertilizers actively contributes to the predator-prey relationship between the environmental resources, like the coral reefs, and the accumulation of economic resources through the tourist incomes (Hernández & León, 2013). The increased use only contributes to the environmental degradation and therefore shows a negative feedback loop within the food system, between tourist demand and tourist attractiveness. This leads to a situation where the natural capital will lose its value and will prevent further accumulation of economic capital.
This is also seen in the preservation of natural capital as tourist competitiveness strategy which determines the attraction of the island in comparison to other destination countries (World Economic Forum, 2017). In order to sustain tourism competitiveness, the growth of natural capital must be set at a higher rate than degradation due to utility (Hernández & León, 2013). As stated above, tourists interested in natural capital, such as divers, are likely to choose a destination with good quality natural capital.
Distribution
- more are social science subject? Exchange
As previously mentioned Curacao is heavily dependent on import to meet the demand of food on the island, this is especially the case regarding vegetables and fresh food. This likely due to the fact that a large portion of the soil is not available or suited for agriculture. This has created the need for Curacao to find another way to meet its food demand. This way of providing food does come with a form of extra vulnerability.
to external disruptions of its food supply. Political and trade disputes, or even political instability in countries from which food is imported can have an oversized impact on Curacao’s ability to procure enough food.
- How tourism influences the imports of food products (do they increase it and does it point to a specific direction of specific food products, such as western food products).
Accessibility
Economic growth and food security interact in a mutually reinforcing process over the course of development. Economic growth is a main driver for food security. Does this counts for a SIDS like Curaçao? With the model of Ingram (2011) this will be studied in this paper section.
Tourism → socio-economic drivers → activities → accessibility to food → food security
Drivers
Economic Growth
The economic growth driver is in SIDS like Curaçao highly affected by tourism. The theoretical framework mentioned several studies supporting the relationship between tourism and economic growth. But not just economic growth but ‘pro poor’ economic growth will be relevant . This means that the growth should relatively more affect the poor to get hem out of poverty (by jobs or higher wages or indirectly via higher state social benefits).
The relationship between tourism, economic growth and accessibility will be addressed in two parts. The first part is the impact on the activities . These could be the producing of food, processing & packaging of food, distributing & retailing of food and consuming food (acquisition, preparation, et all) The second part is the impact of these activities on the accessibility of food, which is part of the outcomes of the food system in the model of Ingram (2011).
“Economic growth is the increase in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP, usually in per capita terms” (Statista, 2018).
The tourism’s economic impact in Curaçao is present in Table 1. Tourist spendings have a positive impact on the local economy, such as hotels, tourism suppliers, restaurants and transportation (Strategic Tourism Master Plan Curaçao (STMPC), 2015). In the tables of the STMPC (2015) the direct and indirect economic impact and the economic spillover effect created by tourism is shown. Table 1. Tourism’s economic impact in Curaçao (Strategic Tourism Master Plan Curaçao, 2015)
Economic Impact Totals
Direct Impact Indirect Impact Total impact Multiplier effect $533,940,224.00 $437,692,945 $971,633,168.66 (€809518911) 1.82
Tourism Studies (DPITS) in 2010 (Croes et al., 2010). The effect of tourism on economic growth is not only based on direct tourists’ spending. The direct and indirect spendings are shown in table 1. The total economic contribution to the economy is convertedly €809.518.911. A leakage factor was included, because some of the spendings are lost to economies outside of Curaçao. Table 2 shows the economic spillover effect per sector, with the Horeca (35,9%) at the top, the Wholesale/Retail/Trade (14,5%) as second, and Transport and communication (10,8%) as third. These sectors also have a remarkable increase in jobs.
Table 2. Tourism economic spillover effect. (Strategic Tourism Master Plan Curaçao, 2015)
Sector Direct and Indirect Direct Jobs Indirect Jobs
Agriculture, fishing, mining Manufacturing
Electricity, gas, and water supply Construction
Wholesale/Retail/Trade HORECA
Transport and communication Financial Intermediation Other real estate activities Education Health Other services $28,291,163 2.9% $102,447,290 10.5% $44,777,159 4.6% $8,391,525 0.9% $141,102,926 14.5% $348,431,191 35.9% $105,354,262 10.8% $103,294,583 10.6% $44,668,442 4.6% $1,433,091 0.1% $1,264,905 0.1% $42,176,633 4.5% 0 0 0 0 4,641 4,591 714 0 0 0 0 0 188 2,122 114 92 0 236 511 1,404 824 13 21 1,033 Total $971,633,170 100% 9,946 6,558
Activities
According to Ingram’s model (2011), economic growth should have a positive impact on the distribution and retailing of food. More people like producers, processors, packers and seller and consumers in the final markets are needed. They interact with the actors involved in e.g. transport, delivery, trading and supermarkets. Is this also the case for Curaçao? The island produces very few food, almost all is imported from the USA, Europa (mostly the Netherlands) and from Latin America, thus the amount of jobs in producing, processing and packing is relatively small. For the case of transport jobs, most food comes in by ship containers in the biggest harbor of the Caribbean. The harbor is located in the center of Willemstad, in the middle of the island. Therefore, the distances to the hotels, restaurants and supermarkets are very short. The food goes directly from the ships to the supermarkets and hotels, so there is also no big need for middlemen.
Notwithstanding this special situation in Curacao the positive effect of tourism on economic growth is clearly visible in the creation of job opportunities for local people in various sectors. The total amount of jobs generated by the economic impact of tourism is 16,503. This is 22.6 % of the total labor force on the island (STMPC, 2015). The greatest effect is observed in the sector Wholesale/Retail/Trade (4,641 direct jobs), in the sector Horeca (4827 jobs) and in the sector of transport and communication (1225 jobs).
Outcomes
The relationship between economic growth andincrease of activities in the distribution and retailing for Curaçao has been proven. In this section evidence is sought for the influence of these activities on the accessibility of food, which part of the outcomes of the food system in the Ingram model (2011). Ingram (2011) elaborates the accessibility of food in three subcategories:
● Affordability = the purchasing power of households or communities relative to the price of food
● Allocation = the economic, social and political mechanisms governing when, where and how food can be accessed by consumers
● Preference = social, religious or cultural norms and values that influence consumer demand for certain types of food.
Only the first and the second category will be examined, due to time and word space constraints.
Affordability
The affordability of inhabitants of Curacao are measured by increasing the purchasing power between 2014 and 2017 and by the the increase of prices of food in these years. First, the data of the gross monthly income of the employed population are examined and secondly, the annual consumer price index numbers by expenditure category. The results are based on data reported by CBS Curaçao (2017).
Table 3. Gross monthly Income of employed population by sex, 2014-2017 .
Gross monthly income of employed population by sex, 2014-2017
Men (%) Women (%) Total (%)
2014 2015 2016 2017 2014 2015 2016 2017 2014 2015 2016 2017 N=28,6 23 N=29,8 46 N=31,6 84 N=29,8 10 N=30,6 72 N=31,9 76 N=33,4 34 N=33,0 24 N=59,2 95 N=61,8 23 N=65,1 18 N=62,8 34 NAf. 0 - 500 2,7 2 4,4 5,6 4,5 5,1 4,2 3,3 4,8 NAf. 501 - 1000 5,9 5,1 6,1 10,7 10,2 9,2 8,4 7,7 7,7 NAf. 1001 - 2000 22,9 23,6 26,5 30,9 27,6 31,5 27,1 25,7 29,1 NAf. 2001 - 3000 17,9 15,9 20,6 14,7 13,1 17,5 16,2 14,4 18,9 NAf. 3001 + 39,8 34,8 28,9 31,5 29,9 24,7 35,5 32,3 26,8 Unknown/not reported 10,8 18,5 13,5 6,5 14,8 12 8,6 16,6 12,7 Source: CBS Curaçao (2017)
The table above shows that the percentage of people with lowest wages(below naf 500 (€234)) has increased from 4.2 % to 4.8 %. The people who earn between naf 501 - 1000 ( €234-468) had declined from 8.4 % to 7.7 %. For these categories together it stayed relatively the same. As the table shows in 2017 12,5% (4,8+7,7%) of the employed people in Curaçao earn Naf 1000 or less a month and this is far below the minimum wage of naf 1589 ( € 742) bruto per month for a 40-hours working week since 1-1-2018. Rather the categorie wage earners between naf 1000 and naf 2000 (€468 to €936) increased substantial from 25,7% to 29,1%. From this data we can not conclude how many people earn less than the minimum wage, but it must be substantial, counting somewhere between 12,5% and 42% (4,8+7,7+29,1) ). Also the highest category, wage earners above Naf 3000, has declined from 35,5% to 26,8%. This indicates that the income distribution does not go into the highest category.
Household incomes and poverty lines
In poverty studies usually the incomes per household are used as indicators. A household can have more than one income, e.g. two adults with a wage and a grandma with an old ages pension. These wages and/or social benefits together form the household income. The government of Curacao yearly indicates the poverty lines for the different types of households. This poverty line is the amount of income that type of family needs for living per month (see table 4 below). CBS Curacao (2018) states that "25,1 percent of all household had an income below the poverty line in 2011".
Table 4. Poverty line by type of household (ANG per month) 2008-2018
The Curaçao minimum standard of living for a householdwithone adult and two children is Naf 1997 (€925) since 2018. If we combine this governmental standard for the poverty line (needed for a living) with table 3 above on the distribution of wages in Curacao , we can conclude 42% (4,8+ 7,7 + 29,1) of the people earn wages that are just on or under this poverty line.
The local government of Curacao supply social benefits (“Onderstand”) to people in need (disabled, young lone mothers without a job) and old age pensions to people above the age of 60 or 65. The AOV is Naf 862 ( €404) (Sociale Verzekeringsbank, 2017) per month, much lower than the poverty line for a one person household, which is naf 1249 (see table 4). This means that a pensioner can’t live on his own, but has to live with relatives. Due to the financial situation of the government it is not expected that benefits and pensions will increase in the near future. More affordability will therefore not come from this side (Centrale Bank, 2017) .
Food price index
To decide about the affordability of the people to purchase food, the wages and incomes are one side. The other side is the change in the prices of the food. If prices increase more than the growth of the incomes, then the purchasing power is declining. Tabel Xshows that over the last 10 years food prices increased yearly and are increased by 60,5 % compared to 2008. For our case study - since 2014 - it increased 13 % (185,9-173,1). Particular basic foods (potatoes, vegetables and fruits) increased in price even by 153 % since 2008 and by 52 % since 2014 (see table X).
Table X. Annual consumer price index numbers by expenditure category since 2008: Curaçao Series for total population, price index numbers based on October 2006 = 100 (CBS, 2017).
Expenditure category Period Change 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Food 125.4 137.8 144.2 155.3 164.8 167.5 173.1 180.0 182.8 185.9 60.5 Cereal products 120.1 138.1 137.5 143.9 155.2 154.7 146.0 156.4 160.1 161.2 41.1
Meat & Fish 130.2 145.4 152.4 167.8 178.5 184.7 189.0 197.0 192.3 193.5 63.3
Fats & Cooking oils 148.5 168.1 162.2 176.1 194.2 202.4 210.6 208.8 204.9 205.1 56.6
Dairy products (except butter) 177.3 178.7 175.0 183.3 194.1 190.5 199.2 207.7 196.7 190.4 13.1 Potatoes, vegetables and fruits 121.9 140.8 162.1 185.8 194.7 197.6 228.4 235.2 256.4 274.9 153.0
Sugar & Chocolate 107.3 116.4 124.5 135.0 144.7 145.6 151.3 155.4 157.1 159.7 52.4
Prepared food 110.4 115.5 119.5 125.4 126.2 130.4 142.7 147.1 146.2 147.2 36.8
In the comparative study with Aruba and Sint Maarten, CBS Curacao shows a bit different data in this figure 1.1 then in table 5. Probably on a bit different basket of foods was used, nevertheless the trend is the same as in table X, with the more broken down food price index. Figure 1.1 shows that during the period 2010-2016 Curacao faced an increase in food prices (+20%) which is higher than the increase for ‘peers’ like Aruba (+11%) , the Netherlands (+9%) and the US (Miami region, +14%) during this period (Ecorys, 2017). Also compared to another basic good, clothing, the prices for food on Curacao in increased much steeper than the prices for clothing.
In the context of purchasing power, food affordability could in theory also be increased by reducing costs of production and reducing cost of packaging. But since Curacao produces almost no
food and imports almost all, there is no cost reduction to obtain. Transport costs per container are relatively high, due to limited economies of scale (from the hubs) and limited return freight (Ecorys, 2017).
Utilization
Even when there is enough food available and accessible for people, households still need to make their own decisions concerning what food is purchased, prepared and consumed and how the food is allocated. This could impact the food security of people just as much as the other two pillars
(CARICOM, 2010).
Drivers
Globalization
Globalization is perceived as the dynamics of structural transformation (Brinkman and Brinkman, 2002). As Holton (1998) describes this structural transformation can be explained from different perspectives; “As the dominance of western economic and cultural interests over the rest of the world” and on the other hand as “a triumphalist light as the penetration of capitalism into every corner of the world bringing with it the possibility for all of the world's’ population to participate in the fruits of the international division of labor and the market economy” (Holton, 1998, p. 2-3, 10-19). Both conceptualizations draw on the idea of the integration of social, cultural and economic determinants from external communities affect the community it colonizes.
As described in the chapter on availability, globalization not only includes economic aspects of society but also the cultural and social areas. Communities are influenced by the integration of the norms and values that transnational institutions take with them, through global diffusion and general culture evolution (Brinkman and Brinkman, 2002). These mechanisms are visible in the impact on the activities of the food system of Curaçao by the socio-economic driver of enforced globalization due to the increased tourism sector.
Activities
With regard to the earlier stated impacts of globalization on the political and economic stability and dependencies of the Island of Curaçao, statements could be made about the influence these mechanisms have on the food activities taken by the people of Curaçao. As an effect of the general culture evolution and the homogenizing effect of the increased transnational character and import dependencies, food activities, such as consuming, have adapted (Brinkman and Brinkman, 2002) (Garcia and Albisu, 2001).
“Consuming includes all consumers themselves, and the varied actors that control what they
The rationalities and perceptions on food that determine consumption strategies change as a consequence of homogenization by globalization (Garcia and Albisu, 2001). Where indigenous diets are based on the food that is physically most available and has the highest nutritional, qualitative and social value, globalization influenced diets are determined by trends and based on a mixture of cultural values, lifestyles and rationalities, not necessarily fit for every location and lifestyle (Garcia and Albisu, 2001). The nutrition transition of the last 50 years as a result of the ‘westernization’ of the diet is caused by both the consumers themselves, and the actors that control what they consume with import determined food supply (Ingram, 2011). The nutrition intake has changed to increased high fat foods and sweeteners and a decline in cereals and vegetable fibers, with the low activity lifestyles of the people of Curaçao, these changes are associated with rising rates of overweight, obesity and diet related chronic diseases (Hawkes, 2006) (CARICOM, 2010). As a consequence, more western oriented foods are higher in demand and the gap between domestic production and consumption rises. Leading to higher import dependency and a weaker competitive position on the global food market (Walters and Jones, 2006).
Outcomes
As the consumption strategies determine the utilization of food and utilization is contributing to the food security status, there are impacts on the food security of the Island (Ingram, 2011).
“Food utilisation refers to household or community capacity (including strategies) to consume food. This includes how it is prepared (for consumption) and utilised by the body.” – (GECAFS, 2006, p. 24) Food utilization consists of three factors; nutritional value, social value and food safety (Ingram, 2011).
Nutritional value
In the scenario of a globalized Caribbean, the nutritional value of the foods is increasing due to the import of more convenience food and brand-name processed and store-bought foods (GECAFS, 2006) (Hawkes, 2006). The nutrition transition towards a more ‘westernized’ diet, is leading to an increased issue of overweight and obesity (VIC, 2017). The nutritional intake of people is high on fat and sugar, but lacks vitamins and minerals due to the reduced supply of fresh fruits and vegetables (CARICOM, 2010) (VIC, 2017).
Utilization of food differentiates between the different social classes. About 50 years ago, undernutrition was a big problem on the Island, over the years, this changed into alarming
overweight and obesity rates (Caribisch Netwerk, 2017). In developing countries, such as the SIDS, people of higher socioeconomic status are more likely to have a higher Body Mass Index than people with a middle or lower socioeconomic status (Hawkes, 2006). This mechanism is currently clearly showing in Curaçao. In 2017, people with a higher income showed a higher obesity rate than people with middle and low incomes (VIC, 2017). The nutritional intake of food is partly determined by the social economic status and due to the developing state of the island, people with higher income levels are more likely to be obese. This shows the decline in nutritional value especially in the higher social classes. However, even in the lower and middle classes, obesity and overweight are a serious issue (VIC, 2017).
Social value
Social value is slightly decreasing due to the distance from the traditional diet and the change in rationalities regarding food (GECAFS, 2006). Food is a big part of the Antillean culture, it is usually the basis to social events and especially eating a lot is part of the social code (Van Wijk-Jansen et al., 2010). This is currently still the case in many Curaçao families, however, people get more interested in healthy eating, which drives them further away from their traditional diets and eating habits (Van Wijk-Jansen et al., 2010).
Several interviews have been conducted among inhabitants of Curaçao, these concurred the above statements made about the changes in utilization on the island. However, it also showed that among the higher social classes, people are more concerned with their health and try to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables and less meat. This due to knowledge about food and nutrition intakes they mainly accumulated online and through information channels coming from the government. The respondents however stressed that in special occasions, people still have the same perspective on food as they did a few decades ago. As one respondent put it quite clearly; food plays an important role in my social life and certain foods display a certain social status, every event has its own food traditions based on moral codes and perspectives far removed from westernized rationalities or ‘healthy’ trends (Pers. Comm., 2018).
Food quality
The high dependency on imported food influences the quality of the food consumed (CARICOM, 2010). The food quality can increase due to strict quality controls on the imported foods. However, according to the CTA (2013) this is currently being done insufficiently. The quality of food is more decreasing due to the lack of fresh foods and increased preservation chemicals present in imported food (CARICOM, 2010). As described in the chapter on accessibility, incomes do not rise at the same rate as food prices, which is why there is a strong focus on cheap import in order to keep food prices low at the cost of food quality (CARICOM, 2010).
The status of food security in Curaçao based on exclusively the impact of the increased tourist sector on the utilization of food is regarded to decrease. The vulnerability of this part of the food system is considered to be strong. Actions are highly influenced by drivers of increased globalization and economic stability, which in turn lead to a shift in the outcomes increasing obesity levels and health costs, and lowering the status of food security. The positive feedback loop in the system enforces its own degradation and therefore could lead to a tipping point from which no return is possible.
Conclusion
To determine the vulnerability of the food system on Curaçao, we interpreted the food systems approach as described by Ingram (2011). Through determining drivers that impacted the activities which affected the outcomes of food security, we established the change in the status of the overall food security. From these statements it could be concluded that the status of food security is significantly decreasing as an effect of the growing tourist sector. Therefore, it is argued that the vulnerability of the food system of Curaçao is reduced.
Drivers
Through our research we found several drivers in the food system which are influenced by the tourism sector. They could be divided between drivers from the ecological and socioeconomic sector; for the ecological sector the degradation of soil and water quality, nutrients and biodiversity are the main drivers.
Increased tourism utilizes the natural capital of the island and erosion and intoxication of
groundwater resources is enforced. The use of fertilizers and pesticides for non native crops causes the nutrient balance of the soil to be disturbed and the inherently nutrient poor soils are further degraded by the intensification of agriculture. Moreover, damages by beach activities by tourists could further threaten coral reefs. The reefs are important for attracting tourists and thus an important source of income. In addition, the reefs functions as fish habitat for potential human consumption.
The socioeconomic drivers are the economic growth, globalization and tourism competitiveness. First of all, the tourist branche creates job opportunities for the inhabitants of the island, therefore it stimulates economic development. Secondly, the increased permeability of the borders enhances
globalization processes, leading to shifts in political power and culture changes due to western influences. Lastly, the tourism competitiveness, is the main asset in sustaining the growth of the tourist sector, and is threatened by the degradation of natural capital and the weakening of political powers.
Activities
These drivers impact the food related activities that people undertake. In the food system the drivers impact the production, export and import rates, consuming strategies and retailing activities. The degradation of soil and water quality, and nutrient concentrations influence the production capacity of the Island.
The soils in Curaçao are not perfectly suitable for agricultural production, but due to tourism growth rates, the circumstances are getting worse. Curacao is very import dependent for its food supply. Low domestic production is among the reasons import is as high as it is but restrictionless trade and and the inherently small scale economy of island has made local food products uncompetitive on the global food market. Import of easy and cheap food products is, thus, the local result. Linking
agriculture and tourism, however, could provide the solution to solving these problems. Next to that is due to the increase in tourists the demand for food higher and different from the original Curaçao diet. Tourists demand more ‘westernized’ foods and due to globalization, the inhabitants of Curaçao change their diets as well. This alternates the consumption strategies. ‘Westernized’ products are consumed more and indigenous dietary rationalities and perceptions adapt. Product prices rise due to import/export rate changes and production degradations, but income is not increasing alongside the price increases which lowers the purchasing power.
Outcomes
The status of food security is divided in three outcomes: Availability, accessibility and utilization. All activities influence the stability of the outcome and therefore determine the status of the food security.
Tourism growth likely decreases the availability within the food system though there is a slight nuance. The characteristics of Curacao and globalization has made it difficult for the island to sustain a substantial agricultural sector. Tourism in its current form is likely to deplete the natural resources the locals depend on for food and for tourist income itself. Though initiatives have started to link agriculture and tourism to promote local produce, it remains likely that Curacao will stay depended on food imports in the near future.
For accessibility we can answer the sub question partly positive, partly negative. The socio-economic drivers affected by tourism had essential impact. First the economic growth was substantial over the studied period as shown by the CBS data. Second, the growth of the amount of jobs created direct or indirect by tourism was even more exceeding and considerable (22,6% increase of jobs). But on the Affordability, the purchasing power and the food price indexes, the results are not convincing positive. The percentage of people with wages above Naf 2000 did not increase in the last 4 years and on the other hand, the prices raised seriously. At the same time, given the current small island economy and import dependence, Curaçao is vulnerable to changes in logistics and carriers that
bring the food to the island. Policies should be directed towards sufficient supply alternatives, as the boycott of Venezuela recently made clear.
Summarizing it, the food security has been party improved by the economic boost in the tourist sectors and the increase of jobs there. The food security stays at the same time quite vulnerable because of no extra purchasing power for the poorer households, serious increase of food prices, specially on the basic foods, and a continuous high foreign dependency of food and carriers which can easily and unexpectedly drive food prices up.
The status of utilization of food is decreasing on Curaçao. Globalization causes homogenization of the global diet and perceptions on food change. In Curaçao this has lead to a nutrition transition towards more high fat foods, meat and sugars and less cereals and vegetable fibers. As a result of the decrease in nutritional value, inhabitants of Curaçao are suffering from health issues such as obesity and overweight. The social value of food has changed according to the people of Curacao. The distance taken from the traditional diet has had influences on the role food plays in social events. Nevertheless, is this decrease not significant, due to the lack of information and the evidence found in other studies about the previous strong connection between food and social events (e.g. Van Wijk-Jansen et al., 2010). Lastly is there a significant decrease in qualitative value of the food intake of the people of Curaçao, due to import dependency, fresh food is less available and
chemicals are used to improve and ensure preservation periods. Next to that, has the government a strong focus on cheap import in order to keep product prices low, which also leads to low quality food.
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