Dear Editor,
In Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, agriculture accounts for a large chunk of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In some places, it is reported that agriculture generally accounts for as high as 20 % of GDP. In the Caribbean, remittances and agriculture compete among the top earners for the economies. Construction and tourism also compete for the top rungs. All of these sectors have seen significant decline in recent years.
Small farmers are the ones who supply our markets, supermarkets, hotels, schools, and all other industries. Everybody must eat, and farmers, despite the challenges of weather systems and drought, must produce.
Farming is such an underrated industry. Young people shy away from it. Higglers abuse the system, purchasing produce at ridiculously low farmgate prices, and retail these same products at high costs, while the true producers live on little and way beneath the poverty line.
The cost of inputs such as seeds and fertilisers have seen sharp increases in recent times. More and more, it is becoming harder for small farmers to continue to produce and compete against imports.
The national import bill in developing countries such as Jamaica is very high and growing. Approximately 90 % of the red peas we consume each day are imported, for example, and the rice and peas dish is a Jamaican staple, consumed every day. We also import a large amount of chicken and other meats, although much of this can be produced locally.
Our farmers compete with larger farmers in the United States and other countries, where these producers are subsidised by their governments. We import the basic ingredients of production, the seeds and the fertiliser. Many of these imported seeds can only produce a single crop. They are designed that way.
Food security for the current and future generations must be a concern for all governments.
We need to incentivise our farmers so that we will be able to feed ourselves in the years to come.
I am,
A small farmer with deep concerns