THE director-general of the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture, Chelston Brathwaite, Monday called on Jamaica and other countries in the Americas to unite to face changing global economic conditions that, he said, are influencing the development of agriculture.

“…in any nation today, development of the agricultural and rural sectors cannot be seen only as an effort to help marginal poor farmers,” Brathwaite said while giving the main address on day two of the Denbigh Agricultural show in Clarendon. “It must be seen as the development of a sector that is strategically important because of its contribution to national, social stability, food security and the preservation of the environment for present and future generations.”

He said that based on the rapidly changing face of agriculture globally, small developing countries like Jamaica needed to unite with others of its kind to compete on the international market.

“A new consensus is formed in the Americas that recognises that the small countries of this hemisphere, which are struggling with the great challenges of eliminating poverty and fostering sustainable development, must be assisted with their efforts to integrate with the hemispheric and global economy,” he said.

“In that sense, Jamaica and the countries of the Caribbean have a very critical role to play but we cannot play it alone — we must stick with others and form a hemispheric bloc of solidarity to challenge the forces of globalisation and to work with those who seek to create the new rules of the game to ensure that we take our rightful place on the global scene.

“In that sense, the regional integration movement is critical. We must join hands with our brothers and sisters in Caricom, in the Americas and seek solidarity with respect to the new global forces,” he said.

According to Brathwaite, eight major factors were impacting on the development of agriculture. They are:

* the increase in globalisation and trade;

* liberalisation of world markets;

* the increase in population and urbanisation;

* advances in biotechnology;

* the development of new information and communications technologies;

* changes in consumer preferences;

* increased attention to environmental concerns; and

* new government policies.

Developing countries, he argued, needed to make sure that they had the proper infrastructure in place to feed themselves and to develop their economies through agriculture.

“The true development of any country — the true nationhood — is built on the ability to feed ourselves and not on the ability to depend on someone else. If you cannot feed yourself you are not an independent country,” Brathwaite said.

He insisted that agriculture in the Americas in the 21st century must be competitive. It must produce value-added products, while being environmentally sustainable, and it must respond to the increasing demand for nutritional, processed convenience foods.

“The effective participation of small- and medium-scale producers in the agri-food chain is an essential element of our pursuit to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of the people of the Americas,” Brathwaite said. “This requires development of a market model that strengthens the negotiating capacity of these producers so that they can compete in growing markets under equitable terms.”

Brathwaite said that Jamaica and other Caribbean countries needed to prepare themselves to take advantage of the hemispheric market of some 800 million people that would be created by the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Part of the preparation, he said, would involve greater participation of agriculture ministries in global trade negotiations.

“In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, to date the participation of the ministries of agriculture in international trade negotiations has been limited and insufficient,” he said. “In most cases, it has been more formal than real, despite the fact that they are in the best position to bring to the negotiating table the concerns of important, emerging stakeholders that will be directly affected by the application of any agreement signed.”

It was paramount, he argued, that the agriculture ministries of Latin America and the Caribbean reinforce their institutional capacity for international negotiations in order to enhance their capacity for analysis, consensus-building, proposal formulation and co-ordination, both with official bodies responsible for foreign trade and with representatives of the productive sectors.

He called for a restructuring of the traditional organisation of agricultural health in the agriculture ministries to include closer alliances and greater integration with other ministries such as health, trade and foreign relations.

“In recent years, the size and budget of the ministries of agriculture in a number of countries in the hemisphere have been significantly reduced, largely due to structural adjustment programmes,” Brathwaite said. “For agriculture to be competitive in a globalised world, the state must play a decisive role in defining policies and providing the regulatory framework for agriculture and its support services, such as research, extension and agricultural health. We cannot have a successful agricultural sector without government support.”

On the completion of his speech, Brathwaite received a standing ovation.