MANDEVILLE, Manchester – He does not believe all is lost. But Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative in Jamaica, Dunstan Campbell, is lamenting the rapid decline in Caribbean agriculture since the 1980s, because of what he says was the tendency to “flight” rather than “fight” in response to the onset of globalisation and liberalisation in world trade.

“Globalisation and liberalisation brought with it two options: re-engineer and survive or become intimidated and move out; what can be described in biological terms ‘the fight or flight’ syndrome. Caribbean Agriculture took the flight option, which led to its demise,” said Campbell.

He was speaking recently at the annual general meeting of the 20-month-old Beef and Dairy Farmers’ Association at the Windalco Sports Club in Kirkvine, Manchester.

Campbell said Caribbean agriculture failed to adapt to new circumstances in the liberalised, global trading environment that placed emphasis on quality and competitive pricing. He noted that while farmers in the Caribbean, large and small, found it difficult to compete, it was the large farmers who were the first to go.

“However, production continued and in all cases… it was the small farmers that kept the production going. This is a fundamental strength of our (Caribbean farming) system… often misunderstood and is a missed opportunity in regrouping after shocks,” said Campbell.

The difficulty was that Caribbean agriculture had not found a way to “bring on board” the small farmers to allow them “to deliver a product of acceptable international market quality and price”.

Campbell argued that “emerging development models like value chains and mother and satellite farms” could be “useful options” for Caribbean agriculture. Policies to support the sector, including an appropriate interest rate regime and land zoning, should be important ingredients,” he said.

Traditional production modes based on socio-political history which saw the region restricting itself to the producing of raw materials should be reconsidered, said Campbell.

“In the modernisation of the (agricultural) sector, we need to change this and put in place a more diverse system of production and marketing, one that would respond to the various marketing opportunities,” he said.

Not only had the international market changed, but so had the local environment with a constant demand for new products by Caribbean consumers.

He recalled that in 1992 Jamaican milk production fell sharply because of competition from cheap milk powder imports and changing consumption patterns. Campbell wondered if the Jamaican dairy industry would not have fared better had producers considered a greater emphasis on the production of ice cream and yogurt.

“These are some of the questions that Caribbean agriculture needs to answer. Can it be done differently? Does the sector have the resolve to engage the new situation?” asked Campbell.

He suggested that Jamaican egg producers were among those who had shown the way forward.

“Egg producers in Jamaica could have had the same disastrous results like the dairy farmers when they were confronted with the market requirements for liquid eggs.

They could have been intimidated by the circumstances and gotten out of the industry. They chose to re-engineer and remain. They went into the production of liquid egg and by doing this have positioned themselves to be key players in the supply of liquid egg to the tourist sector, not only in Jamaica, but the rest of the Caribbean – an opportunity that the CSME presents,” said Campbell.