My dad used to say that if he ever had gotten asked to fulfill the role of minister and had a choice of in which office to serve, he would have chosen the office of Education, because he beliefs that by educating the people, Suriname could work towards rebuilding the country and get most people out of poverty. While I agreed with that point of view - partly still do - I've begun to wonder what sectors have more priorities.
Let me elaborate, according to the research paper - of Anjali Kisoensingh - mentioned in this article, analyses from the household budget survey in 2013/2014 shows that 22.6% (approximately 124,350 people) of Suriname's population experiences extreme poverty, based on the international extreme poverty line by the World bank of U$1.90 per day. It was also mentioned that 24.9% (circa 35,708 households) could be classified as extreme poor, based on the national poverty line of SRD 309,- per month. Now looking at these numbers and the hits on our economy and ensuing inflation, I'm worried this number will drastically go up, as even the so called "middle class" will get hit hard by going backwards in their quality of living.
According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (yes there's a lot of criticism regarding this pyramid, but that's a discussion for another time) the physiological needs are the very first needs that have to be satisfied/reached - like food, air, sleep, reproduction, etc. - before other needs are met, which signifies the importance of first ensuring feeding the population. Which is why, if I had a say, I would recommend to focus and invest in (modernizing) the agricultural sector and in teaching the population how to be self sufficient and supply/provide them the necessary tools (seeds, plants, tutorials, etc.) to do so, instead of handing out food packages (not sustainable). Especially how suitable Suriname's soil and climate are to make this possible.