Agriculture at a crossroads

Aston Wood, Contributor

Most developing countries, like Jamaica, are characterised as rural nations, based on the greater part of their populations living in the rural areas and who are engaged primarily in agricultural enterprises. The adoption of improved agricultural practices has assisted many such countries, including Jamaica, to successfully overcome the poor performance of traditional subsistence agriculture and experience improved forms of profitable commercial operations.

This element of improvement on an international scale has been accredited to the influence of the Green Revolution of the 1960s. The major impact of this occur-rence has been the marked increases in agricultural yields through the introduction of field mechanisation, new crop varieties, irrigation and drainage and the use of fertilisers and pesticides.

However, rural-development projects which have relied only on improvements of the agricultural components to achieve national development targets have not proven to be very successful. This has been a consistent experience for countries, including Jamaica, which has its agricultural production system rooted in producing commodities, e.g. banana, sugar, cocoa, etc., versus a combination of commodities and value-added products.

Persistent poverty

With commodities as the dominant or only output, competi-tion in the marketplace will be based on the need for constant cost-cutting, lowered labour inputs irrespective of productivity, a reliance on devaluations to lower input costs and other such eco-nomic strategies. Such a profile of enterprise operation is, undoubtedly, unprofitable and persistent poverty inevitable, as the production of commodities only does not offer the prospects of wealth creation, irrespective of subsidy support. The future process out of poor economic performance of a predominantly commodity-based agricultural sector lies in innovative/creative entrepreneurial pursuits to produce high-quality, value-added products that are competitive on the global market.

It is worthy of note that the Green Revolution reduced hunger and improved food security in many countries, thus saving millions of lives. However, on evaluation over time, a range of negative issues have been noted, including the exclusion of small-scale producers, dependence on pesticides and fertiliser complexes, environmental problems related to the pollution of land and water supplies and increased production costs.

Declining donor support

Although the merits of the Green Revolution are recognised, the dramatic evolution of rural development resulting in increased employment, poverty reduction, improved social services and infrastructure in China, India and other Eastern countries cannot be ascribed to the improved and industrialised agricultural sectors or the Green Revolution but to a process of rural industrialisation.

With an overall decline in public-sector activity and a resurgence of private-sector interest in a number of the Jamaican agricultural subsectors, agriculture would seem to have the potential for expansion of output, especially in the area of value-added products. This is as a result of policies which have liberalised a number of subsectors over the last decade to encourage greater private-sector participation and further liberalisation and privatisation are expected to occur. The sector is, however, at a crossroads because of the declining trend in donor support to the extent that, at present, none of Jamaica's main donors have any agricultural projects in the pipeline. Should this trend continue, public spending will likely be limited to areas as extension services and research for small-farmer crops, regulatory controls, some animal and crop disease controls, some large-scale irrigation investments and protection of watersheds. These areas of support services are critical contributors to the economic mainstay of rural agricultural communities. Such circumstances are of significance, since the annual Survey of Living Conditions reveals that in the rural areas, poverty is estimated to be about 25 per cent of that population.

Enormous problem

The process of improving the quality of life for the rural poor has been, and still is, an enormous and challenging problem. Recent reports from countries with both large and small rural populations claim that solutions are to be found right there within the rural areas. Within such environs, according to research reports, exists the scope for critical enabling actions among the rural population. Such actions involve the generation of jobs/employment by the utilisation of the endowments of available primary and secondary resources for enterprise and business development and improved levels of income. Such prospects are of tremendous significance when it is recognised that irrespective of the superior prospects of improved performances of agricultural and related land-based enterprises, their absorptive capacity for the rural workforce is very limited. This rural reality is fuelled by the continued increase in the population of rural workers for potential engagement in non-agricultural occupations amid a declining population in efficient agricultural operations.

The overall strategic framework for developing the agricultural sector seems to be contained in the Agricultural Development Strategy (2005-2008), the objectives of which are: continued contribution to sustainable growth and development through employment; export earnings, food security and a halt to the decline of the sector; to restore levels of productivity and promote expansion of products with viable markets; to promote agro-industries and provide meaningful livelihoods, especially for young people in rural areas. The main components of the strategy include:

• Reduction of praedial larceny.
  
• Increased productivity and production.
  
• More efficient use of lands, especially government lands.
  
• Improved infrastructure, especially rural road rehabilitation and irrigation networks.
  
• Enhanced research and technology development.
  
• Expanded extension services.
  
• Improved marketing and access to credit.
  
• Rationalisation of trade policy and upgrading of food-safety measures.

Creating social burdens

Historically, most Jamaican modernisation processes for the economy have been based on the introduction of industrialisation programmes for which the urban areas are the preferred locations for implementation. Such circumstances undermine developments in the rural areas. However, most industrial strategies were based on the prospects of employing a workforce of low skills and low wages drawn from rural areas. The survival of such workers in the high-cost-of-living urban areas is generally dependent on subsidised, low-cost, imported foodstuff and marginal living conditions. The two factors are recipes for urban overcrowding and poverty. These and other circumstances with similar outcomes are social burdens on the society directly associated with the lack of non-farm rural economic activities. In spite of efforts in the 1980s and 1990s to upgrade the Jamaican rural infrastructure, support was very marginal, resulting in the persistent inequality in favouring the improvement of urban versus rural areas infrastructure. This type of support allows the continued attraction for investments in the urban versus rural areas.

The Way Forward

The Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan as proposed by the minister of agriculture stated "that the Government wishes to reiterate that agricultural development is the fulcrum on which sustainable development of the rural economy will be based in the quest for developed-country status". This posture presents room for debate in light of growing evidence, to date, which indicates that irrespective of the prospects of superior agri-cultural performance, the sector cannot pragmatically accommodate the non-farm rural workforce to effectively reduce the scourge of rural poverty. Therefore, a new and more deliberate development model is needed to direct greater investments in rural areas. The dynamics of such a model would be to modernise the rural sector by strengthening rural communities with education, health care, access to technology with improved infrastructure and credit to promote rural prosperity. Accordingly, rural industrialisation with a modern agricultural component would be expected to serve as a viable recipe and the key to rural and national poverty reduction.

A shift towards the process of rural transformation was indicated by the minister when reference was made to the prospects of rural areas having a mix of agricultural production investments. The investments would include agro-industries and non-agricultural-economic activities, e.g. tourism with agriculture, creating backward and forward linkages with the larger rural economy.

Policy initiatives Required

It is known that many rural communities are well endowed with a wide range of active as well as dormant businesses because of previous industrial initiatives as bauxite mining. As such, store and shopkeepers, transport operators, artisans and a range of small business operators are poised to respond to the prospects of rural-development initiatives as promoters of business and prosperity. It was also perceived that strong policy initiatives and plans are required in the areas of:

• Proper land utilisation and management to check the indiscriminate conversion of rich agricultural lands for urban needs.
  
• Effective land zoning and regulations to avoid haphazard growth around cities/urban centres
  
• A well-designed and executed afforestation policy.
  
• Maintenance of quality standards.
  
• Compliance with phytosanitary and sanitary requirements.
  
• Development of an efficient trade policy.
  
• Promotion of environmentally friendly practices (rural and urban).
  
• Preservation of the character of rural lifestyle and the cultural identity of rural character and spirit.
  
• Promulgation of ecotourism and heritage tourism investments.
  
• Participatory planning processes.

All of the foregoing pronouncements of policies and parameters describing support for an improved agricultural and rural sector are consistent with most of the ingredients required to initiate the development of a rural industrialisation programme.

So why not? A pragmatic rural development process has been lagging for too long. Currently, the Jamaican rural sector is strategically poised with the most malleable attributes to assist in upgrading Jamaica to the aspired developed-country status by 2030. The Government and national planners do have yet some time to review, focus and make policy adjustments to create a new and refreshing beginning for the rural and agricultural sectors.

Holistic approach needed

The key to a faster process of rural development requires a holistic and comprehensive approach for the emergence of a strong non-farm sector. This can be achieved by focusing on linkages between the farm and non-farm sectors in the areas of agro-processing, the provision of agricultural inputs, the supply of basic consumer goods and services for rural industrialisation.

Accordingly, the strategy proposed seeks to procure a more secure growth for agricultural and rural development through approaches to be taken by the non-agricultural sectors. These would be primarily by their contributions to sustainable development schemes for the rural and agricultural sectors within a rural industrialisation context.

The hope of building a 'new Jamaica' is resident in this approach as a more profound and engaging fight against rural poverty in particular. It engenders the development of policies for strong social inclusion and equity, the promotion of education with an innovative/creative content and a renewed culture for entrepreneurship to succeed against the persistency of the debilitating effects of national poverty and crime.

Aston S. Wood, PhD, is an agribusiness consultant. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and astonwood@cwjamaica.com.

CAPTION; Dwayne Wright, a Clarendon farmer, hands over yam to customer among a throng of buyers at a farmer's market at the Portmore HEART Academy in St. Catherine on Friday, February 4. The special farmer's markets aim to re-energise the rural agricultural sector by unloading surplus crops.