Stealing Crops, Rustling Livestock, Plundering Farms

10/23/10

If we are going to have a major impact upon the increase in local food production we must address the major disincentive to growing food and raising livestock. The continual plundering of local farms with relative impunity.

The Ministry of Agriculture must lead the charge in this in cooperation with the Ministry of Home Affairs. This should be done in such a way that it involves the whole community for Government can not do it all without the cooperation of the wider public and the business community.

For many years we have witnessed small scale theft of crops with a tolerance that was born out of empathy for a hungry man feeding himself or his family in a time of hardship. In recent decades however we have witnessed an increasing industrialization of the process where truck loads are carted away to be sold in markets or to hotels across the island.

Farming is hard work. It is risky business fighting the vagaries of the weather and the assault of pests. It is no easy task to bring a crop to maturity or to raise sheep and cattle to be ready for slaughter. To have months of hard work wiped out in a night of pillage is soul destroying and with little redress, economic ruin.

This is the fundamental problem that must be addressed to give our farmers the heart to invest and get on with the task of feeding us. Lawyers and bureaucrats refer to predial larceny I prefer to use the Anglo Saxon words to describe what it is. Crop theft, rustling livestock and plundering farms. That resonates with the man in the street. It is each and every one of us that pays for this criminal activity that drives up the cost of food and creates scarcity in the market place as farmers withdraw from farming and produce non food crops that range from grass to houses.

There is no silver bullet that will solve this issue but we must make a start by developing structural and legislative solutions to aggressively tackle the problem. There is no use developing land for the landless farmer programs unless adequate security is ensured. More tax breaks will not solve the problem of loosing a whole crop in one night. Barbados is a small place with a closely knit society where the information about illegal harvesting of crops must be widely known. What seems to be lacking is the will to crack down on farm thieves and those that sell stolen goods.

It is time for us to step up to the challenge and work to solve the problem. A good first step might be for the Ministry of Agriculture to have a brain storming session with the farming community, members of the judiciary and the legal fraternity, the Royal Barbados Police Force and members of the distributive trade. In so doing they will develop an understanding of the magnitude of the problem and the hurdles that must be overcome to successfully prosecute crop theft.

Phillip.goddard@braggadax.com

Barbadian Appreciation of Human Rights

The progress of social justice and the expansion of a free society in Barbados has given us an innate appreciation of the value of human rights and the rights of the individual. We have struggled long and hard to develop a democracy that serves our people well. Though imperfect we have continued to build on the foundations of freedom and the rule of law to respect the rights of the individual and to promote the application of justice for all.

Though we speak glibly of human rights and our commitment to the furtherance of human rights the subject is often ill defined or misinterpreted. For clarity it would be useful for us to refer to two documents, our Constitution and the UN Declaration of Human Rights to which we subscribe. It is important that we do so for it clarifies the various facets of human rights and expresses the view that human rights are for all mankind and an essential aspect in the furtherance of peace around the globe.

The Barbados Constitution underscores the importance that we attach to the rights of the individual and the UN Declaration enumerates 30 articles defining the protections and treatment that all people are entitled to. These range from the right to own property and protection from arbitrary deprivation of property to the abolition of slavery and the equal treatment of men and women as well as the protection from discrimination based on race, nationality.

Today, many of the rights and freedom of choice that others have earned for us are taken for granted, but the preservation of democracy and the cause of human rights are a continual work in progress. The price of freedom is continual vigilance.

Though we are small we should champion the cause of freedom and support those that fight against the destruction of democracy and the institutions that support it. More valiant are those that seek to expand the principles of human rights and the establishment of democratic systems of government in countries that are ruled by despots.

Examples like The Sudan and North Korea leap to mind where slavery and misery stalk the land. In our own hemisphere we must be appalled at the destruction of democratic institutions and an independent judiciary in Venezuela where Chavez continues to expand his dictatorial powers and Ortega seeks to reestablish the dictatorship of communism in Nicaragua. As we continue to strengthen our diplomatic contacts with Cuba, we can not turn a blind eye to the political prisoners that have championed the cause of democracy in a country where even Fidel Castro has admitted that their economic model has failed the Cuban people.

The award of the Nobel Peace prize to Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo should be lauded by us as he seeks to bring reform to an increasingly dominant power on the world's stage. The Chinese regime brooks little dissent and Mr. Liu is currently serving an 11 year jail term in China for championing those principals that we hold so dear. We should also take note of China's threats against Norway as they sought to bully the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in an effort to deny the award to Mr. Liu.

Autopilot or a Hands on Approach

An autopilot is a system that engages the controls of an aircraft to maintain it in a stable flight condition and no course for the intended destination. It is an aid to reduce pilot fatigue by removing the burden of having to constantly have his hands and feet on the controls to adjust for minor turbulence or minute changes in the weight and balance of the aircraft. However should an emergency arise or severe weather encountered the pilot will disengage the autopilot assume direct control of the aircraft.

I knew of some pilots who were so confident of the performance of the autopilot and had such great faith that nothing would malfunction that they would engage the autopilot and leave the flight deck unattended. That they survived the flight could only be ascribed to an overworked guardian angel.

Today there is evidence that Barbados has been on autopilot for way too long and that there are some who are in denial about the magnitude of the economic threats that we face. Granted that much of the problems were not of our own making and the global financial crisis has impacted heavily upon us. But if we are honest we must recognize that some of the problems that we face are of our own making and that we have the capacity to implement corrective action that will, at least in part, address the external and internal challenges that we face.

It is way past time for us to disengage the autopilot and to address the issues of productivity, efficiency and structural changes to organizations in both the public sector and the business community. The mantras of “we like it so” and “it will do” have no place in today's world. I is time to put aside the parables and obfuscation in the messages that we send to the public and engage in some plain direct speaking.

The wishful hope that we will see a 2 percent growth in the economy next year is just that, a wishful hope. We need to come to grips with the reality that property markets that generated so much direct foreign investment in the past has virtually ground to a halt. By borrowing to shore up foreign reserves will only buy us a bit of time to put our house in order by restructuring government institutions and businesses alike to drive economic growth that will either earn or husband foreign exchange in the aftermath of the deepest and most prolonged financial crisis since the great depression.

In doing so we must urgently address the internal impediments that we have consciously or unintentionally created that impedes the growth of the financial services industry. Food production and distribution is also a critical component for employment and foreign exchange earning and the Ministry of Agriculture is not structured to meet the challenges of food production in a landscape of a declining sugar industry.

The business community also faces multiple challenges and must meet the consumer demand for better prices that can be achieved by improving inventory flows and control that reduces the time between ordering a product and getting it on the shelf.

We have hit some violent economic turbulence and its time to ask, “is there anyone on the flight deck?”

Wishful thinking and Evidence Based Analysis

Our propensity to see the world as we would like it rather than the way it is knows no bounds. Thus it is with the prognostications of improved economic performance in the months and years to come based on the belief that things are bound to get better. When pressed on why this should be so, the answer invariably is that it has always been so and that after a downward turn in the economy it always rebounds. All we have to do is wait things out and wait for the sun to shine again.

This attitude and lack of appreciation of the depth and nature of the global recession has resulted in a do nothing and wait and see approach as the economy grinds to a halt, businesses close, construction falters and jobs are lost. Meanwhile the signals from Europe and the United States indicate that the expected economic recovery has not materialized as anticipated and Warren Buffet is of the view that the U.S. is still in a recession.

Unemployment in the U.S. And Europe remains unacceptably high as the debt bubble expands and consumer confidence is diminished. This all indicates continued pressure on our hospitality industry as visitors increasingly demand more value for their money and cut discretionary spending.

Headlines in the media about increased visitor arrivals or increased cruise ship activity engender false hope and an absurd sense of normalcy. For decades the per-capita spend of cruise ship passengers has been in a steady decline that has only accelerated over the past two years. Long stay visitor arrivals have been maintained by heavily discounted room rates and spending on duty free items, restaurants, taxis and water sports are severely restricted. All this translates into a decline in profit and foreign exchange earnings.

There is no doubt that the hospitality industry and its ancillary support businesses are under severe pressure and that we must redouble our efforts to improve the delivery of service and focus on the hospitality side of the business. Visitors to our shores must be welcomed and made to feel that they have had a truly unique experience and the holiday of a lifetime.

It is not just hoteliers and restauranteurs that must rise to the occasion but all the support businesses that provide services and goods to the hospitality industry must play a part in improving efficiency and cutting cost.

The hospitality industry is vital to the success of our economy and is an important factor in the success of our international financial services industry. These two pillars of our economy are the major foreign exchange earners and are vitally important to our quality of life. Any adverse impact upon these two areas of economic activity impacts directly and negatively upon us all whether we work in the public sector or in the business community.

Now is the time for us to be innovative and to be facilitators rather than obstructionists. We must do all that we can to enable the business of Barbados to thrive in difficult economic times. It is a time to cut cost, work harder and smarter and recognize that we will be challenged with difficult economic conditions for the foreseeable future. There is no fairy godmother or bailout from the lottery. We all have to make it happen through our own efforts and ingenuity.

Observation, Prediction and Action

It is not uncommon for me to observe pedestrians walking along the road in rural Barbados with their heads down and being caught completely unawares in a sudden rain squall. This constantly amazes me as one could clearly see the cloud formation approaching for at least 15 minutes or more, and could easily have seen the oncoming squall line before the deluge was upon them.

This brought home to me the importance of being in tune with the environment that one was living in and predicting events that would cause one to take protective action. This requires several different skill sets that might seem obvious but are apparently, like common sense, not so common.

First there is the powers of observation that requires one to scan the sky and the earth or in the case of fishermen the waters and the sky. This does not mean just watching the road for pot holes six feet ahead of the line of march but to look around and far into the distance to monitor oncoming traffic, changing weather conditions and any other unsuspected obstacles to ones safe progress.

Next there is the powers of analysis to process the information gathered by the powers of observation. Of course the better the observation skills the better the quality and quantity of data that will be available for analysis. Thus in the case of an oncoming rain cloud one could assess if it was an isolated rain cloud that might well bypass one's location or a rapidly moving squall line that would sweep along the whole visible area with a heavy down pour.

Having analyzed the problem the ability to formulate a solution and act upon it is the key ingredient for a positive outcome or in some cases one's very survival. The rainy day problem that I outlined above is a relatively simple one but consider a hunter in Africa stalking game through a dry gully and observing distant thunderstorms in the foothills ahead of him. Does he continue his hunt or does he watch the duration of rainfall and decide to move to higher ground to avoid being swept away in a flash flood that may well sweep through the gorge though no rain is falling at his location. The complexity and danger of the situation are bot increased.

Thus it is with the recent announcement that government officials were traveling to London to lobby for a change in the travel tax that has had an adverse impact on our hospitality industry. When tax policy is formulated there is quite some time between the development of the policy, the drafting of the legislation and the passage of the legislation. When the British government announced its intention to tax international travel we should have responded at that time to monitor the development of that policy and to point out the unintended consequences that produced a tax that would be less onerous for passengers flying from London to Hawaii than those flying from London to Barbados. The time to act was at the time of the beginning of policy formulation years ago rather than a year after the enactment of the legislation.

The Barbadian delegation may well find itself standing in the rain if not knee deep in water that has already fallen.

The Missing Ingredient

There is no doubt that our economy is under severe stress and that many of our people are seeking solutions for the problems that beset us. Alternative energy, better use of technology, improvement in technical skills and better education are some of the matrix of solutions that are being discussed.

Absent from the discussions seems to be the need for an improved work ethic, improved punctuality and delivering value for money. In good economic times we have become tolerant of the mediocre, accepted an unsustainable level of absenteeism and ignored an absolutely astonishing level of poor communication and customer service. The value of hard work seems to be the missing ingredient.

Technology and better qualified men and women in the work place will not equal success unless it is accompanied with a drive to excel and a willingness to work. Granted, thee are pockets of excellence and highly productive teams in the country, but all too often we set the bar far too low to succeed.

Both in the public and private sectors we have come to accept situations where three or four must be gathered together to do the job of one. This has become so common place that we seem to have stopped counting the number of those assigned to the most mundane road marking exercise. Similarly, without a second glance, we step around gatherings of shelf packers in the supermarket as they block the aisles while discuss last night's party and other social issues of great import. No wonder we pay such a high price for food.

I well remember a conversation that I had with Chinese agricultural expert who was assigned to help small farmers in the island. He said that it was easy to impart the technical knowledge that he had, however it seemed impossible to transfer his work ethic, Without that he said success would always elude those that he was sent to help. How very true.

All too often we look for the easy solution to our problems when evidence of the value of hard work is all around us. The coconut vendor who picks coconuts and sells coconut water regularly works 10 or 12 hours a day. Small contractors provide services with great punctuality and attention to detail that would satisfy the most discriminating client. Individuals providing garden services do so with attention to detail and a focus on getting the job done.

There are successful companies in Barbados because of dedicated employees who put in a full days work working and then some. However they are in the minority and the appreciation of the value of hard work seems not to be part of our national culture. That must change if our better education, improved health standards and good Barbadian ingenuity are called upon to get us out of the economic decline and improve our international competitiveness.

Hard work and working smart is the message that our business and political leaders need to be sending to those that would succeed. It is the missing ingredient in our recipe for economic success and national well-being.   

A Time for Transformation and Action

It is now nearly two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the beginning of the global financial crisis. For much of that time we have reacted as though we lived on a different planet. With few exceptions, Barbadians seemed to be unaware of the magnitude and depth of the global economic recession and its impact upon us. Some how the ship of state would right itself in the economic storms without having to shift ballast or batten down the hatches. All was well with Barbados and the CL Finance debacle would solve itself.

Nothing could be further from the truth and two years on with the world's financial markets in turmoil, sovereign debt crisis, threat of a double dip recession in the United States and mounting unemployment there is finally a mounting realization that the Barbadian economy is under serious threat. Recent comments by Mr. Peter Boos, editorial writers, businessmen and trade unionists have all underscored the reality of our parlous state of affairs.

Now is the time for strong and vigorous leadership, innovative solutions, improved productivity and a total involvement of the whole community to participate in strengthening our economy and shoring up our precious foreign reserves. Now is not the time for vacillation and wishful thinking but a call for all of us to sacrifice some of the frivolities of life, tighten our belts and put our shoulders to the plow.

It is certainly not business as usual and Mr. Boos long list of action points is a good place to start. It is not a time for panic but for a series of short, medium and long-term strategies to be articulated, sold to the wider community and implemented. Some of these will not be new but something that we should have done long ago but found it not politically expedient or urgent enough to address.

A case in point is a new focus on food production, processing and distribution with a concomitant drive to ruthlessly stop farm product and supplies theft. Where there are loopholes in the law they must be closed and a community based program of information coupled with a special praedial larceny response task force. The resultant boost in food production will assist us in reducing the enormous food import bill. This is not rocket science and requires nothing more than a little starch in or collective spine.

While it important to maintain social cohesion and to maintain a safety net for the most disadvantages in society, there have been far too many able Barbadians who have basked in the ethos of victimhood and dependency.

The message must now be clearly sent that there is no room for passengers on the ship of state as it is now a working vessel, sailing through the stormy waters of a global economic crisis and crewed by productive working men and women of our country. We are charting a course to come through the storm tossed waters to survive and to participate in the transformation of our economy and society, creating new wealth and prosperity for all.