The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business

Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A 5 per cent GDP contribution from the Bahamas’ agriculture sector is an “attainable goal”, Bahamas Agricultural Producers Association (BAPA) president, Dr Keith Campbell said yesterday, acknowledging that the sector was definitely under producing.

“There was a time when agriculture was contributing about 5 per cent of GDP. I think that’s an attainable goal, but you won’t attain it like next year. It’s a step by step process, but it is attainable. This is no pie in the sky, but it’s no overnight thing either,” said Dr Campbell.

An Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) strategy paper for 2011-2014 in the Bahamas noted that this nation’s agriculture sector “has declined considerably and contributes less than 3 per cent to GDP”.

“Realistically, I think we can double that, but you have to set goals and a timeframe. Then, you have to implement your plans and review. Definitely we are under producing,” Dr Campbell said. Bahamian food imports approach $500 million annually.

 “Successive agricultural census for the past 30 years have shown a continuous decline in the number of farms and farmers. For this reason, agriculture continues to be a small part of the economy. The records show that there has been a decline in the number of farmers in the Bahamas from 36,246 in 1978 to 20,336 in 1994, and in 2000 it was estimated that those in production are just at 10 per cent capacity,” the IICA noted.

“The last agricultural census revealed that the only increase in agriculture was the average age of the farmer. It’s lack of policy,” Dr Campbell said.

“I keep going back to the $9,000 cap. In the Family Islands you were no longer able to make a sustainable livelihood from farming because, with the cap, you could only send S9,000 worth of business to the packing house and the market access was gone.

“The decrease in the numbers of farmers is due to decreased market access. They can’t sell what they grow.”

Under the first Free National Movement administration, a $9,000 cap on produce sold by individual farmers to the packing houses was put in place to curb spoilage.

  A recent paper by IICA placed the Bahamas among  the most “vulnerable” nations in the Latin America and Caribbean region, due to its high “dependence on imports to meet the domestic demand”. The Bahamas, the IICA said depended on rice and wheat imports to  meet more than 40 per cent of domestic demand- these being key food staples for many.

“In terms of agricultural development and cutting down on food imports, we are always going to be importing food in terms of rice and wheat,” said Dr Campbell.

“It’s unrealistic for us to talk about growing rice and wheat in terms of being competitive. Sure, we can grow it, but it wouldn’t make any economic sense. The problem that faces us as a country is that we need to grow our GDP in terms of increasing our productivity. 

“Agriculture is a means of increasing our GDP in terms of providing a sustainable livelihood for our people. From increasing our productivity, one of the benefits will be increased food production and the need to import less of certain commodities. We need to come up with a holistic approach and a plan to mobilise our resources to increase our productivity.”