WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao produces a larger share of its own food than Aruba and Bonaire, but the island remains heavily dependent on imports, according to a new baseline study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
The report found that Curaçao's food self-sufficiency rate stands at 8.78 percent, the highest among the ABC islands. While that places Curaçao ahead of Aruba, which produces 6.57 percent of its food locally, and Bonaire, at 8.25 percent, the figures also reveal that more than 91 percent of the island's food supply still comes from abroad.
Researchers attribute Curaçao's relatively stronger performance to several factors, including its larger size, the presence of more commercial agricultural operations, and the growth of hydroponic farming, which allows vegetables to be cultivated using water-based systems rather than traditional soil farming.
Despite these advantages, the island's food security remains vulnerable to international supply chain disruptions and fluctuations in global food markets.
The study examined food production and import dependency across all six islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and concluded that local production remains limited throughout the region.
According to the researchers, multiple factors influence food self-sufficiency, including the availability of agricultural land, access to water resources, economic scale, transportation links, and the impact of tourism.
Tourism, while a key economic pillar for many Caribbean islands, significantly increases demand for food. At the same time, limited land and water resources make it difficult for islands to produce enough food locally to meet that demand.
The report suggests that expanding local agriculture could strengthen resilience against future disruptions while reducing dependence on imported food products.
For Curaçao, the findings highlight both the progress made in local food production and the continuing challenge of reducing reliance on imports in an increasingly uncertain global environment.