EDITORIAL: Keep youth interested in agriculture
IT was recently acknowledged that there may be a role for young farmers to play in reducing Barbados’ high food import bill.
The suggestion came recently from Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Senator Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, who not only admitted that the island’s current food import bill is too high, but who further suggested that a lot of the food imported can be grown here.
Now at the time of the Minister’s comments, interestingly enough, she was addressing budding young farmers who successfully passed through the Youth Farm Programme, hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA). It must be said that IICA, in association with its partners, has been doing its part to generate and keep youths’ interest in agriculture. On a whole however, more must be done to draw more youth into the local agricultural sector and to raise the profile of farmers in Barbados. This is necessary if we are to truly tackle this issue of inadequate local crop production, and if we are to seriously address this issue of our high food import bill.
We cannot have this discussion, however, without stressing that there are not enough incentives for youth in Barbados to get involved in agriculture. This debate has played out several times in the public domain and this is the general consensus. We must also find creative ways to bring some innovation to what some are saying is a dying industry. Not all youth who show an interest will want to get directly involved in crop production. Indeed, some may want to use the crops or plants available to produce botanicals, which may be taken up by those in the cosmetology industry. Others may be able to take the milk from the Black Belly Sheep or other animals and produce soaps and other skin care products, which could be sold on the local market and even exported to bring in some foreign exchange. Some youngsters may have a keen eye for design and may be able to fashion some bags or footwear from the animal hides that may otherwise be discarded by those rearing livestock within the agricultural sector. Those into cooking may be able to come up with new recipes for local dishes, by combining indigenous products to produce a tasty meal. The idea is that we must begin to think outside of the box and see how we can diversify the agricultural industry for the greatest gains.
Finally, some say that youth will only enter and stay in the field if that field is viewed with respect and brings a level of returns that they can be proud of. If it is true that agriculture is not seen as being amongst the top professions or that it is not profitable, then how can we expect young persons to aspire to be in this field? The answer lies in being innovative and showing persons that what might be a useless idea to some, can signal profit for others. We also need funding agencies which are willing to back those who dare to be different and who dare to try their hands at something new. With all that said, it is hoped that we can see more youth successfully honing their green thumbs to the country’s benefit. Ideally, we also want to see some spinoff business coming to the fore, as more young people embrace agriculture and all it has to offer.