Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley

Prime Minister Mia Mottley says it is time for the region to slash significantly its massive Food Importation Bill.

Ms. Mottley is proposing cuts over the coming years.

She says the region cannot afford to play with food  security given the vulnerability it faces from natural disasters.

Prime Minister Mottley finds it unacceptable that the region has been spending  four billion U.S. dollars every year on importing food.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the start of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture in Barbados yesterday.