Marjorie Stair, Western Bureau Chief
"I am confident that by the end of the Plan period, the sector (agricultural) will have become more responsive to technological change as a result of vastly improved research and extension services. As a consequence, there should be a significant increase in production and productivity, thereby allowing agriculture to make the contribution to GDP which is necessary for the attainment of our country's social and economic goals"
THE above was the last paragraph of the Foreword of the 1990 - 1995 Five-Year Development Plan for the Agricultural Sector, signed by the then Minister of Agriculture, Seymour Mullings, in August 1991.
The contribution of Jamaica's Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery sector to GDP in 1990 was 7.82 per cent. The 1990 performance of the sector must be assessed against the background of the devastating effects of September 12, 1988, Hurricane Gilbert. In the year 2000, the percentage contribution of the sector to GDP was 7.1 per cent, moving down from 8.0 per cent in 1995, at the end of the Plan Period referred to by the former Minister of Agriculture.
It is not possible to examine the issue of governance of the past 12 years without commenting on the alarming contradictions created by Government policies, or the lack of them, especially as they relate to the allocation of scarce resources, financial and otherwise. Take, for example, the NetServ scandal that has dominated the headlines since the beginning of the week.
Since the middle of the 1980s, agricultural policy has been developed within the framework of the Structural Adjustment Programme, which had as its primary objective the structural transformation of the Jamaican economy through the pursuit of an export-oriented development strategy. The devaluation of the Jamaican currency was a critical ingredient of this strategy. Others, more directly related to the agricultural sector included the de-regulation of Commodity boards and the divestment of Government-controlled projects and assets. Other initiatives included the restructuring of the country's banana industry with emphasis on large, high technology estates and the diversion of some sugar lands to non-traditional export crops under the aegis of the AGRO 21 programme.
The present administration, on assuming office in 1989, continued to operate within the framework of the Structural Adjustment programme, and there has been little or no change with respect to the country's overall macro-economic policies despite the devastating effects they have had on the country's productive sector. There were many of our intellectual and economic leaders who believed that the productive sector viz. agriculture and manufacturing were not worth saving as there were more appropriate sectors that were 'winners'. Those promoted were services, tourism and the financial sector. Emphasis was placed on these sectors, funds pumped into them and poor Mr. Paulwell was convinced that the jobs lost in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors could be quickly replaced by those being created by the Information Technology sector, despite the country's relatively high rate of illiteracy. One can only imagine how the numbers of the jobs to be created increased exponentially when these purported investors realised that taxpayers' funds were available for the taking.
Phillip Paulwell admitted to three errors in the NetServ scandal. The wireless technology adopted by NetServ proved to be not feasible. The funds were disbursed despite the failure to inject the required amount of equity into the business. Those managing the operations knew little of the information technology business. I hope I did not hear him right with respect to the last one.
Now, if I were to sum up the governance, as it relates to the agricultural sector, for the period of 1989/90 to the Year 2001, in one paragraph, it would be simply this. Over the past 12 years, the economic policies of the present administration and those of the previous ones have drove a significant percentage of Jamaican farmers into bankruptcy. The result has been a significant increase in rural poverty, a significant reduction in the total hectares of lands in agriculture, deteriorating or absent physical infrastructure and social services, especially in rural areas; the virtual death of many rural towns resulting in increased rural to urban migration and the spiralling of the number of squatter settlements and their related social and economic problems, and most of all a significant increase in the country's dependence on imported food to feed its citizens. The absence of a clear agricultural and/or food policy has only served to aggravate the situation.
Of course, every farmer and manufacturer who went bankrupt in the 1990s would have liked to have the excuses of the violence in Western Kingston and the September 11th attack on the U.S. for their failures and demands for special assistance. The sugar cane farmers apparently have managed to have their loans written off. Let me not be the one to predict that it will not make an iota of difference to an already bankrupt and thrice bailed out industry. Those who attempted to approach NIBJ for the special assistance promised just before the wholesale bailout of the financial sector at the end of the 1990s, understand the format of the feasibility reports. First, you have to establish the technical feasibility of the project. Then you have to provide evidence of the appropriate management expertise and capability. Most importantly, you must have equity capital and the required collateral to secure your loan. Many, trapped in debt and lacking working capital to make their enterprises viable simply had to give up. The promise of collectively several thousand jobs saved and or created was not enough as in the case of NetServ.
A comparison of selected production statistics for the years 1990 and 2000 although reflecting some growth (Hurricane Gilbert occurred September 12, 1988) supports the above.
The growth of the information technology sector, like that of the agricultural sector, must be based on the foundation of solid education. The agricultural sector cannot effectively respond to technological change without this foundation. Development is based on people with vision who are equipped with the will, knowledge and resources to transform that vision into reality. Sustained development is based on knowledge, hard work, thrift and a civilised populace that is willing to operate within the framework of law and order.
If we can't educate our children, then what are we then?
Neither agricultural production nor productivity has increased over the past 12 years, despite some small progress in a few areas. The sector's contribution to GDP has stayed between 7 per cent and 8 per cent for at least the past two decades. The vast improvement in agricultural research and extension services has not taken place and in once vibrant farming areas all over Jamaica, farms have either gone into ruinate or farmers now trade imported food as a means of survival. Some attribute this state to the laziness of the Jamaican people. Then, of course, there are those who believe that the police serve no other purpose but to drive around and kill innocent citizens.
Have a merry Christmas! Governance is the act of exercising authority, administering laws, maintaining control and developing appropriate policies. Its sole preoccupation should not be the distribution of scarce benefits and spoils.
