By:
Cara L Foster
There is a certain “myopic” perception of agriculture in Barbados that desperately needs to change because agriculture is one way to help the nation save and earn foreign exchange.
This point was made by James Paul, Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society yesterday morning during the RDC (Rural Development Commission) Training and Information Meeting for Agrofest 2017, which was held in RDC Headquarters. He believes that the nearsighted image of agriculture in Barbados needs to change and broaden.
Paul said that sometimes Barbadians compared the level of agriculture in the island to those of more developed countries and yearned to have what they have without realising that if more importance is placed on the agricultural sector, it could grow into quite a competitive one.
“When you look and see agriculture in the more developed states of Europe and the US, they envision agriculture as being so much more than just that,” he said.
He expressed that there needs to be an appreciation of this activity, along with all the other activities associated with it. Paul also said that it upsets him when persons express that Barbados should not have a sugar crop or should not do agriculture in the country because of the incredible contribution that the agriculture sector could make to the national economy. He said that if this thought process continues to permeate the minds of people it will drastically limit the type of opportunities that are available to citizens.
“The fact of the matter is, not everybody can be employed in a government institution, not everybody can be employed in the hotel sector, not everybody can be employed strictly in trade and commerce!” he said.
He added that one thing that is being quickly recognised is that if the nation does not earn foreign exchange or save foreign exchange, the country will be constantly at the edge in terms of being able to provide goods and services for persons.
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