Co-operatives everywhere in the world, including Jamaica, were born in hard times. The informal “partner” system came from the Yoruba Tribe in Africa during hard times there. It came to Jamaica via the African indentured labourers who came here after slavery along with the indentured servants of the other races.

The People’s Co-operative Banks, which were established in Jamaica more than 100 years ago (not to be confused with the credit unions which came later), came out of hard times.

The Jamaica Banana Producers Co-operative was established in the 1920s as farmers who had fewer acres than the sugar barons needed to come together to secure their markets abroad through the United Fruit Company (UNIFRUCO). Indeed, despite the attempts in 1891 to start a tourism industry with the launch of the Great Exhibition where people came from all over the world to see Jamaican products, it really started when the UNIFRUCO bought Titchfield Hotel in Port Antonio to bring tourists on their banana boats.

Norman Manley was the lawyer for the Jamaica Banana Producers Co-operative in the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1930s, disease wiped out the banana industry and the producers had to start all over again. In the meantime, the workers walked off the estates to seek jobs in the towns all across Jamaica.

Norman Manley negotiated an agreement with UNIFRUCO, which brought about the establishment of Jamaica Welfare in 1937 (now Social Development Commission). For every bunch of bananas placed in a UNIFRUCO boat the company would give a penny towards rural community development. In addition to many other things, Jamaica Welfare established many community co-operatives. In those days Jamaica Welfare and the Jamaica Agricultural Society worked in conjunction with each other and the JAS also established many agricultural co-operatives.

In the meantime the credit unions (or financial co-operatives) came into existence in 1941. The Young Men’s Sodality of Holy Trinity (Roman Catholic) Cathedral in Kingston established a credit union and went about Jamaica giving credit union education and urging co-operatives.

The Fishermen’s Co-operatives were started in 1942. By 1950 the Co-operative Act of Jamaica, which governs both financial and service co-operatives, was enacted by the then Jamaican Legislature (referred to as “Parliament” since political Independence in 1962).

Today, Jamaica has fewer foreign markets for agricultural products. Bauxite is very unstable and at the present time we do not make as much as we used to. This means that tourism is our main option at the present time, even if we do not like the idea of having millions of foreigners on our shores annually.

The time has come to combine the tourism industry with the co-operative movement. There are already service co-operatives that are in the tourism industry, in the bed and breakfast community programme and this should be developed. But at least one hotel will also be needed.

This is not a novel idea. In the 1970s, the Government led by Michael Manley offered the hotel that is now Jamaica Grande to the Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League but the league board did not take up the offer.

Through newspaper columns and radio commentaries I tried convincing the credit union league board to get into the hotel industry for the 17 years between 1989 and 2006 with no success. So this time around we will have to go about establishing tourism co-operatives in a different way. Profit in co-operatives is referred to as surplus and is distributed according to the vote at annual general meetings. Members of co-operatives need to join the credit unions islandwide and attend the annual general meetings.

The co-operatives that are involved in tourism should vote that some of the surplus goes to the tourism co-operatives. To convince the members that they should support the donation of a part of the surplus to the cause, the tourism co-operatives should be open to all members of credit unions. And their membership should allow those who to seek either full or part-time employment in the tourism-focussed co-op.

The Fishermen’s Co-operative Union should also get into the act. If they get into the tourism industry big-time they would have a steady market for fish. True, our sea-waters are over-fished, but the fishermen can increase the fresh water fish industry by having even more inland fish farms. Even the sandy places where the soil cannot hold water for inland fish farms can be used by making concrete pools to hold the fish.

There should be a concentrated effort to fill the hotels from January to December. This can be done by encouraging faith-based tourism, both in the communities and in the hotels. This will be one way to boost agriculture as the farmers will be able to sell their produce to the hotels and to those that offer the bed and breakfast service.

ekrubm765@yahoo.com