Globalisation’s impact on the Caribbean

CARIBBEAN AGRICULTURE continues to be the subject of discussion, regarding sustainable economic development of the region. Agriculture invokes many heated discussions on whether the region should continue with it as a means of industrialisation.

The advent of globalisation has resulted in many structural changes in Caribbean economies. Dr Orville Beckford of The University of the West Indies purported that globalisation has resulted in removal of tariffs and other trade barriers, some of which protected domestic agriculture from harsh competition. The removal of these barriers also meant an increase in the standard of agricultural production, as local producers had to match the standards set by the imported ones. This placed pressure on the local producers, who were already producing in an atmosphere of high interest rates, high inflation, unstable currency, and a high import content of fertilisers, seeds and other means of production. The increase in standards will, in the long run, benefit the region in terms of high-quality agricultural goods emanating from the region. The cost of attaining the required standards is, however, prohibitive to some small local producers and they eventually leave the market. This is, no doubt, contributing to our grave concerns about our regional food security as we continue to depend on imported food to feed our people.

Globalisation is fuelled by technological innovations. The application of technology to agriculture is also one area in which the Caribbean has fallen down. Dennis Pantin, Keith Nurse and other Caribbean theorists continue to lament the lack of a techno-paradigm shift in Caribbean industrialisation. This absence of a focus on technology is very pronounced in agricultural production in the region. Agricultural producers in the region are slow to introduce new technology as a means of improving efficiency and output. Retooling within the sugar industry has been very slow, despite 30 years of preferential treatment under the Lome Convention. The windfalls from preferential treatment were not used to modernise the industry.

Beckford further highlighted that globalisation has resulted in the dominance of Caribbean and other developing countries’ markets by large multinational corporations. These huge companies with tremendous economies of scale can dictate market prices that force small-scale producers from the market. This is happening within the Caribbean as small producers find it difficult to keep up with the price of imported onions, carrots, oranges, peas and other agricultural products that flood the ‘free’ open markets of Caribbean states. I use the term ‘free open market’ to describe Caribbean markets, as this is what we have, as a result of structural adjustment and the WTO. In Jamaica, our agricultural sector received an agricultural sector adjustment loan, with conditions attached, that opened up our economy. These large corporations also have the financial fortitude to invest in new emerging biotechnology. Such biotechnology has fuelled research in genetic engineering that is geared towards producing agricultural products for all types of tastes and aesthetic delights. The cost of these types of research makes them prohibitive for the individual farmer. This is why a regional approach is needed for agriculture in the Caribbean.

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Credits to Dr Orville Beckford, Sociology Department, UWI, Mona Campus.