The colonial rulers created significant wealth from agriculture in Jamaica, mainly because of good soils and friendly weather conditions; availability of labour, favourable market conditions and adequate funding from Government and private planters.

The most impacting of these conditions is the shortage of farm labour, which was once the most available and affordable, which made Jamaica and the Caribbean attractive for conquest by the Europeans. They made laws to enforce cheap labour but since Independence in 1962 many changes have been made to labour laws which include legal recognition of trade unions, equal pay for women, illegality of child labour and protection under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.

These legal offerings seemed to affect agricultural labour more than other industries like tourism, construction, distribution, etc. And although empirical data doesn’t show clearly why farm labour has become nearly non-existent, the labourers are demanding up to $25,000/week to work on farms plus meals.
These rates are far exceeding the minimum wage of $15,000/week and are unsustainable for agriculture and make the farm produce uncompetitive with imported food.

Labour is an institution and government must lead it in conjunction with civil society, trade unions, the Church, employers, etc, and the time is right for discourse on the matter.

Discussion is being held on importing farm labour and nothing is wrong with that concept because Jamaica exports farm labour to North America, but these farms have living accommodations and salaries, which, although at the low end, are favourable due to exchange rate differential between the currencies. Besides, there are selection and recruitment systems here for farm work programmes which encompass agreements with those North America countries and the respective farm owners to safeguard acceptable living conditions, safety, and medical care amongst other things.

Some of our local farms have accommodated migrant farm labourers in the past such as larger sugar estates that had barracks and supervisors dwellings, but currently most farms are small, ranging in sizes from one to five hectares which would make living arrangements uneconomical, compounded by low productivity in the agricultural sector.

Scarcity of farm labour is a result of poor farm infrastructure including lack of sanitary convenience, poor access roads, irregular work, primitive farm operations, etc. These impediments need modernisation and investments in the sector, firstly to afford labour, secondly to attract workers especially since the national unemployment rate is the lowest in our history.

Farm labour also has options in areas with better working conditions like construction, vending, transportation and security industries being similarly classified as low skill labour pool that would benefit from upskilling and training through HEART/NSTA, Rural Agricultural Development Authority, Jamaica Agriculture Society and 4H. The agriculture workforce must now be a priority and needs study to guide both government and the farming sector as to how to address the problem.

Lenworth Fulton

Lenworth Fulton is the President of the Jamaica Agriculture Society. He has also been head of the 4H Clubs and Executive Director of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.