Tuesday’s Economic corner
By Peter R. Ramsaroop, MBA
Over view:
I refer to the future of our nation’s agricultural opportunities as the “Green Anchor” of the region and the fact that we continue to have stagnation in this key sector is alarming. The complaints from farmers across our country are mounting. There is great media attention on the misuse of taxpayers’ money on pumps and drainage. The minister responsible for this sector said recently that he was not concerned at the money spent only on the results. One just has to visit areas such as West Berbice to see the condition of the drainage and whether or not the multi-million dollar pump is working.
In addition, my visit to West Berbice this last week was filled with complaints about the Chairman of the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agricultural Development Authority (MMA). It seems like this one individual can authorize which rice canal is cleaned and which ones are left alone. I visited many of these canals and saw for myself the ones next to an MMA official’s rice farm was in perfect condition but others were in such bad shape that one farmer said he went from 34 bags of paddy per acre to 22 bags per acre due to the lack of maintenance of the drainage system.
The following is a summary of issues directly from the farmers of West Berbice:
Most of the canals were blocked, are not being cleaned and the high cost farmers have to pay to drain their own fields with pumps.
Rate and taxes are paid for drainage yet farmers have to use other expensive methods to drain their lands
If farmers do not pay rates and taxes their land is taken away from them , these rates and taxes are to provide services which included proper drainage to protect the land from floods which destroy rice crops every year.
Lands are taken away and are given to the friends of Government officials who do not plant the land, many lands that are taken away are given to overseas persons.
The reason that we must have better agriculture policies and implementation strategies is that over 72% of our population is classified as rural, specializing mainly in agriculture. Our country is highly vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. Our losses in one year amounted to US$465 million or 59% of our GDP. This makes drainage and irrigation of utmost importance and as such the mismanagement from the top to the bottom affects the farmers and families the most. This also in turn increases the price of produce for the citizens.
The drainage system is over 100 years old and really is not designed to deal with the incompetence of individuals designated to maintain such systems in the farming communities.
We keep hearing about the Jagdeo Initiative that describes a strategic framework for the sector but little is said about how we will ensure our farmers’ success. We have great slogans such as “food security” yet when farmers try to access lands and seeds or financing, they are met with red tape.
Labour Laws
It has become clear that the time has come to reconsider our labour laws to ensure that farm workers are treated fairly. We have to ensure that there are laws against unfair practices and better working conditions. We have to stop the workers from cutting cane with a cutlass and move them to driving machines that make their work more efficient and gain skills for other industries. These are basic protections for these workers and we shouldn’t leave these workers unprotected.
Key Steps for Government to take:
Towards being a more diversified
“Green Anchor” Country.
Support the World Bank Proposal on Agricultural Insurance: We need to increase agricultural competitiveness and these instruments could provide a sustainable market mechanism.
Micro loans for the construction of green houses for cash crop farming
Upgrade our Markets to more Farmer’s Markets: All the venues where our farmers have to sell their produce such as Bourda, Mon Repos and others are in deplorable state with substandard facilities even though government has awarded contracts in some of these areas. The produce we have to buy are not in clean environments yet we the consumers must still purchase from the farmers who have worked hard to get their produce to the market.
Contract with farmers to maintain the canals next to their farms especially the rice industry canals.
Conclusion:
Food security is one of the main topics in Caricom. Our government officials talk a lot about agriculture Initiatives but they clearly lack focus on how to improve the farmers’ environment. We have the means to be the green anchor of the region but must first take care of our own. We cannot allow our farmers to be poor and to have to protest in order get their drains clean. For us to get to the point where we can be the bread basket of the Caribbean, we must first put in initiatives to improve the welfare of our farmers. The new economy of agricultural foodstuff production is upon us in the region, we must choose the path to re-invent from traditional crops to truly becoming the “Green Anchor” of the Caribbean. Until next time “Roop”.
Reply to Peter.ramsaroop@gmail.com