IT IS generally acknowledged that the agricultural sector has suffered the greatest devastation from Hurricane Ivan. The banana industry, for one, has been totally flattened, while damage to the sugar industry, the other major export crop, has been estimated to be in the region of $1.5 billion.
Tree crops such as citrus, coffee, cocoa, coconuts could not stand up to the relentless buffeting, and vegetables and other domestic food crops were destroyed by the accompanying flood waters. Some farming communities like Cave Valley, St. Ann, and Bog Hole, Clarendon, are still submerged two weeks after the hurricane passed. Added to this, the livestock industry took a tremendous beating with significant losses in the poultry and goat industries especially.
Preliminary estimates suggest that the cost to the sector will be well over $6 billion, very little of which will be recovered from insurance since crop insurance is almost non-existent, the cost being so prohibitive.
There are serious implications of this near wipe-out of the agricultural sector, some of which are already evident. Shortages of fruits and vegetables in the markets, green groceries and supermarkets have led to a sharp increase in prices, the government's appeal against price gouging notwithstanding. The Consumer Affairs Commission has its work of monitoring cut out for it, as the law of demand and supply always defies bureaucratic attempts at control. The answer may well be importation, a course that would suit the consumer, but have adverse implications for local production after the recovery. Which brings us to what is required to get the sector up and running again without delay.
It is important that a full and accurate assessment of the damage is arrived at, and a programme of restoration be drafted and implemented as quickly as possible. We are assured that the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has been doing the assessment, and will develop the rehabilitation programme for submission to the Ministry of Agriculture. No doubt the Office of National Reconstruction will have a role to play in this also.
We urge all concerned to move speedily in the allocation of the resources, as the timing of the replanting process is critical to successful crops. We are confident that the farmers, renowned for their resilience, if given timely assistance, will rise to the occasion, and return the sector to the path of growth that it has consistently achieved even when others have been declining. Agriculture is too important to the socio-economic development of our rural communities and, indeed, to the national well-being to be given anything less than the most urgent attention.
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