Sherman Libiee is frustrated. The Aruban sees from all sides how his livestock farming is under pressure. He points to the fences around his plot of land, which do not properly protect his cattle. “I have four hundred pigs and goats here, which are constantly attacked by stray wild dogs. Last year 38 animals were killed. And we receive zero compensation from the government.”
The livestock farmer is also affected by the increasing tourism. Aruba receives 1.5 million visitors every year, and the sector continues to expand, Libiee notes. “This cunucu (papiamento for agricultural land) has existed since 1982, but more and more Airbnbs are taking up land here. They then complain to us about stench or noise pollution, because the rooster crows in the morning.”
Libiee sells pork and goat meat to butchers and restaurants on the island. But he doesn’t know if his company will survive. “We receive no protection from the government, even though we only form a small part of the market. For years they did virtually nothing for farmers. And then last summer the minister suddenly said that he wants more agriculture and will grow lettuce. We don’t understand that.”
On Aruba, just like on the other Caribbean islands of the Kingdom, more than 90 percent of the food is imported. Shopping is expensive: prices are 40 percent higher than in the European Netherlands, while purchasing power is lower. On the six islands, on average, one third of the population lives below the poverty line.
The Caribbean is also vulnerable to global price movements. Since 2010, some products have increased in price exorbitantly, sometimes up to 140 percent. According to the local regulator Fair Trade Authority, potatoes, vegetables and fruit have become four times more expensive in Curaçao. This is rising rapidly due to the increase in energy prices since the Iran war. King Cargo, the only shipping company serving Curaçao and Aruba, tripled container shipping rates in April.
Produce yourself
Current agricultural production in the Caribbean now mainly comes from small farmers, according to a UN report published last year. Their production is limited, but important in times of emergency, such as during the corona crisis. The pandemic completely halted tourism, the economic engine of the Caribbean. In 2020, this prompted the World Bank to write a report on how Aruba can produce more food itself, also to create new jobs and be less dependent on tourism. That advice was twofold: offer more structural support to small farmers, and also develop commercial agriculture.
Aruba now seems to be mainly opting for the second option. Last summer, Minister of Economic Affairs Geoffrey Wever launched a plan to build a greenhouse horticulture complex of thirty thousand square meters later this year: the Agri-Innovation Park (AIP). The idea is that farmers rent greenhouse space here to grow vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce and spinach efficiently using the most modern techniques.
The AIP project has not gone down well with small farmers. They feel that the AIP project is putting them out of business economically, says cattle farmer Jair Britten, chairman of the Comision Pro Cunukero Arubiano, which represents 65 Aruban farmers, two-thirds of all farmers on the island. Greenhouse horticulture requires large investments and technological knowledge, which small farmers do not have, he says. He also disagrees with the minister’s plan to produce crops for the catering industry and export. “Why don’t people support existing farmers with subsidies, like in the Netherlands? We supply nutritious vegetables, such as yams and yucas. And meat. Imagine that a storm comes soon, and the ships don’t come: what are you going to eat? No lettuce and garnishes. This way you don’t offer food security.”
Britten has nothing good to say about the AIP. “This project seems to have been set up because of the new agricultural fund in the Netherlands. You have to realize, these are the Caribbean. When people see money, such as with the fund from The Hague, pirates appear and lend their hand.”
Farmer Sherman Libiee in Aruba.
Photo Robert Slagt
The Hague subsidy
The Cunukeros leader is referring to the 24 million euros that the Schoof cabinet made available last year for food security on the islands. There is a growing awareness in The Hague that food production must increase here. Six million euros will go as a subsidy to the island governments, including Aruba, to strengthen agriculture and infrastructure. The remaining 18 million will go into a private fund that offers favorable loans to agricultural companies. The so-called CariFoodFund (CFF) will operate as a foundation from The Hague.
“We expect that the fund will assess the first applications at the end of this year,” says Gerbert Kunst, representative of the Netherlands in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
According to Kunst, the CFF is “mainly intended for local entrepreneurs on the islands themselves”, with smaller farmers eligible for “a mix of subsidies and loans”. Agricultural companies from the European Netherlands can participate if they are registered in one of the Chambers of Commerce on the six islands and they also have a bank account here. According to Kunst, the fund is aimed at “stimulating innovation, so that farmers can make a start in food cultivation.”
It is mainly the emphasis on innovation and investment that worries the small farmers in Aruba. They fear that financial support for food security will soon go to large agricultural companies, pushing them out of the market. “It feels like a top-down project,” says farmer and activist Kinsasha van der Bliek. “The minister does not take us into account. He says he wants to reduce food imports, but he himself imports an expensive agricultural system made of concrete and glass.”
In February 2025, Priva, a Dutch company that supplies climate systems for greenhouse horticulture, published a report on the AIP as a “future knowledge and innovation hub in Aruba” on behalf of Minister Wever. There is a strong focus on high-tech greenhouses, which are highly automated. A spokesperson for Priva says that the company prefers not to comment on Aruba’s choice for greenhouse horticulture, and that it is “up to the ministry to comment on this.”
Shortly afterwards, the same Priva was commissioned by the CariFoodFund to carry out a baseline measurement of current agriculture on the six islands. According to the Aruban farmers, there was no tender procedure for this. The Priva spokesperson does not want to respond to this either, also because “our work on the islands has now been completed.” Gerbert Kunst says that Priva was chosen for the baseline measurement “because of their expertise”.
In October, the consultancy and engineering firm AAB from Maasdijk, which also specializes in greenhouse horticulture, won the tender from Aruba to carry out the technical design and economic feasibility study of the Agri-Innovation Park.
Greenhouses under cloth
There are questions about the choice of greenhouse horticulture because the warm climate in Aruba requires a lot of energy to cool greenhouses. Only a handful of farmers in Aruba now use modern techniques such as hydroponics, a method of cultivation in which plants are grown in water with nutrients instead of in soil.
“Hydroponics works well on the islands, because the soil is very salty and you can reuse the water,” says Janneke Grit, plant physiologist at Wageningen University & Research. “But if the pump is not turned on every day, things go wrong. This means 24/7 action on your farm. And small farmers are not always used to that – not all of them want that.”
Grit conducted research in Barbados, which wants to become a food hub for the Caribbean. Vertical farming, the vertical stacking of crops, is now a hype on the island. “This is done in buildings or containers in several layers on top of each other with LED lamps, without daylight. It costs a lot of energy, while sunlight is free there.”
High-tech agriculture does not necessarily yield more in the Caribbean, Grit believes, although many island governments would like to have it. “A supplier from the Netherlands then thinks: I earn more with such a modern greenhouse. But that is not always in the interest of the island, because they lack the level of knowledge there, and the climate is different. Better to keep it simple: just plastic greenhouses, with lots of ventilation, and a simple hydroponics system. This means you can produce more, without high additional costs.”
Ari Lichtenstein uses hydroponics in a simple way in his two screen greenhouses near Santa Cruz, where he grows tomatoes and cucumbers for shops and fresh markets. The heat makes farming in Aruba difficult in any case, says the farmer, but his market position is also vulnerable. “A few years ago, importers lowered their prices for tomatoes: then I was able to throw away my harvest.”
Lichtenstein will gain a competitor, because the AIP will soon mainly produce tomatoes. The farmer has no interest in participating in the project. “I already use a modern system, so what good is greenhouse horticulture? They would be better off supporting the small farmer. The government subsidizes water, but does little else. When we ask for logistical help, such as machines, we run into a wall of bureaucracy. You can’t even grow cacti like that.”
Made in Statia
Fifty years ago, the Caribbean islands still produced much of their own food. Sint Eustatius, which has fertile volcanic soil, supplied fruit and vegetables to surrounding islands until the 1970s. With the rise of the oil industry and tourism, which paid better for less hard work, agriculture collapsed.
The Statian government actively supports small farmers. The local Made in Statia farm has been producing more and more vegetables since this autumn, says Kimani Kitson-Walters, agricultural manager at the municipality. “The board had an experienced farmer from Curaçao come over as an advisor. A lot of vegetables are now on offer and the residents are happy with it.”
More and more vegetables have been produced since this autumn at the local Made in Statia farm on Sint Eustatius.
Photo Robert Slagt
The Friday fresh market at the slaughterhouse is busy. The cucumbers, melons and peppers from Made in Statia are doing well. A pound of tomatoes costs three dollars here: more than half cheaper than in the supermarket, which sells American imported vegetables. “The stores are receiving leftovers, lower quality food,” says Kitson-Walters. “Most of it is frozen: you can maybe keep it for a few days. The vegetables from the island last for two weeks, taste better and are cheaper.”
The municipality is now also constructing basins for rainwater. Climate change means there is less rain, which makes water expensive on the islands. A pilot project was also started this autumn with support from the EU, in which vegetables are grown in the shade of solar panels. “This is unique to the Caribbean,” says Kitson-Walters. “The panels protect plants and farmers from the bright sun. And you use the scarce land more efficiently.”
Strengthening Caribbean food security is mainly about the question of what you produce, and for whom. Wageningen researcher Peter Verweij, who has been active in the Caribbean since 2010, is positive about the agricultural fund, although he believes there is another issue surrounding the reconstruction of agriculture. “A relatively large amount of unhealthy and highly processed food is eaten on the islands, partly as a result of a limited supply and high prices.” More than seventy percent of Caribbean Dutch people are overweight. “So you also want to change the local diet. That requires a change in thinking.”
Whatever will be grown, according to Verweij, high-tech agriculture favors modern companies over local small-scale companies and initiatives. “Local farmers fear that they will not have access to the new funds. These people cannot invest like large parties. So you have to develop an inclusive mix and ensure that this strengthens the community and creates local work.”
NRC has repeatedly asked the Aruban Minister of Economic Affairs Geoffrey Wever for an interview without success. His agricultural coordinator did not respond to an email with questions.
