By K. C. Soares, ContributorIT IS generally accepted that for economic growth and development to take place in Jamaica, the tourism sector and the agricultural sector will have to play dominant roles.
Isn't it then somewhat scary that both these sectors have been in decline? Tourism, for instance, showed a decline of 4.1 per cent in earnings as only US$1,182.6 million was earned in 2002 compared to US$1,232 million in 2001. The amount earned three years ago by this sector was US$1,332.6 million. Clearly, there is a steady decline in the tourism sector.
Although the performance of the tourism sector has been below the Caribbean and global averages, the main indicators showed signs of recovery during the latter part of 2002. So there is hope for this sector.
However, the same cannot be said of the agricultural sector and this is where our focus will be today.
In 2002, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in agriculture, forestry and fishing was $1,331 million, and this represented a decline of 8.3 per cent compared with 2001. With the exception of coffee, production of all the major crops declined. Sugarcane recorded its lowest level of production in 55 years.
DECLINE
Overall earnings from non-traditional exports declined by six per cent. Yams and papayas were the only commodities recording increases in value of 5.8 per cent and 20.2 per cent respectively. The poor performance of this sector was blamed on flood rains, which occurred in May and September last year.
A few years ago, the poor performance of the sector was blamed on drought, which persisted for a few months of the year. But are these acts of God to be blamed for the poor performances of the sector?
It is my opinion that while drought and floods do affect production in agriculture to some extent, the main problem is the leadership within the sector.
For instance, there are far too many boards, (Cocoa Board, Banana Board, Coffee Board, Coconut Board, Pimento Board, etc.) and organisations in the sector and they all seem to be going in different directions.
The boards, as I have said before, do not appear to be all that functional. If one should take a close look at the composition of these boards one will observe a great degree of "cliquism", which is to say a recycling of the same people.
This is an unhealthy state of affairs as it does not allow for openness and new thinking and therefore there has to be a staleness of thought. How can the agricultural sector progress in this environment?
For agriculture to progress, all the existing boards will have to be dismantled and replaced with functional entities. These new entities will have to depart from the old systems now being adopted and embrace new strategies to face the challenges in agriculture.
CHALLENGES
Such challenges include the production of items that can compete on global markets. It is my firm opinion, backed up by personal experience, that under the present system young, bright individuals are not given the opportunity to realise their full potential in agriculture. Too often these individuals are frustrated and are forced into alternate careers. In many instances, we are training agriculturists for careers in selling insurance or used cars out of Japan.
The dismantling of the boards should be accompanied by a total overhauling of key organisations such as the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS). The JAS has the potential to become the front-runner in the resuscitation of the agricultural sector. Recently, there has been some interest at the leadership level as a new president is to be elected. I hope that the new executive will adopt a different attitude from that of the old guard.
Too often when we hear of the JAS, we hear of them seeking funds from the Government. The JAS, as an organisation, should be able to create all the funds that it needs not only for its day-to-day operations but also for the funding of worthwhile projects, thus making it a self-sustained entity. The JAS should be offering funds to the Government from such sources as proceeds of established projects islandwide instead of constantly complaining of inadequate funding.
Creativity at the leadership levels of the agricultural organisations is sadly lacking at this time. We have to expunge from our minds the common belief that something not done before can never be done. Agriculture is too important a sector to be neglected as far as creativity is concerned. Let us all raise the bar of creativity and soar to greater heights.
K. C. Soares is a former banker and is now a business consultant with Soledad Financial Services Limited. E-mail: soledad@netcomm-jm.com
