Submitted by Steven Kaszab
Wheat prices have tumbled from its peak when Russia had invaded the Ukraine, but one of the worlds most consumed items remains in short supply and that the global hunger crisis still remains. Much like oil, steel and beef, wheat shifts its price and availability in response to many complex factors such as geopolitics and the weather. Declining prices of wheat creates a challenge to our economies, one where low prices of wheat may not incentivise farmers to plant more wheat, thereby creating more scarcity of this product and its many off take products. A lower price for wheat does not deal with the ever increasing cost of energy, which affects the cost of running farm equipment, transportation and even the manufacturing of needed fertilisers. Hot, dry weather is also crimping the farmers style of crop growth. Our global economy is facing a potential situation where food prices could spiral out of control.
Russia and the Ukraine account for 1/4 of global wheat exports. That is what war has affected. A man made crisis that may go into the long term. Adding global drought episodes and we are facing a combination of scarcity, corporate profiteering and ultimately food price gouging like not seen before. Wheat prices are at a level seen before the year began. @ $7.75 per bushel jumped to over $13.00 right after Russia invaded Ukraine. The price stayed in double digit’s through this June and then began to fall to a $8.00 a bushel level. Winter Wheat stocks also brought the price down and a deal between Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations has allowed some wheat to ship to international markets.
The cost of wheat and many other foods have been affected by the war between Russia and Ukraine, but the real factors that will affect the price of bread, cereal and other items will be climate change, the price of fuel and fertiliser. Climate change is making crop growth highly unpredictable. Lack of rain, drought level micro climates and over harvesting of single crop items are limiting what can be grown and harvested each year. In Canada temperatures soared to record highs, making three fourths of the country’s 2021 agricultural land abnormally dry. Canada’s wheat crop dropped to nearly 40% from 2020 to 2021, causing its exports to Latin America to decline by over three million tons. Also, in 2020 wheat was about 30% cheaper then it is now.
Because Russian fertiliser is so important to the global farm trade, it avoided international sanctions. Although high prices hurt countries that import wheat, low prices might dissuade farmers from planting extra crops this year. Over the past decade the number of farms closing production has increased. Family farms are becoming less and less, while corporate farms of thousands of acres specialise in the most profitable of crops, often no those crops that feed the nation.
Like the stock exchange, food prices are on the move up and down, making money for some, and costing money for others. Whether the costs are artificially kept high, or there really is no controlling our food stuffs costs, the end consumer is in for a roller coaster ride, and their pocket books need to look out.
@ Donna
We don’t need an expert the success will be shown in terms of supply and pricing. Hefty supply should result in a fall in prices that is the rule of commerce.
When you see vegetable prices falling and the vendors all heavy with produce, you will know things are working.
@John A
You refer to times when the BLACK farmer in St. Lucy has to dump onions?
Of course it is convenient to ignore the great post by @ Artax earlier, when he pointed out how state resources have been used to pacify people whose only answer is to threaten the politicians with unemployment. He is more than correct.
I expected “ emotion “ to be introduced because declaring others emotional is now the calling card of some apologists.
I will patiently wait and see the results of all the wonderful projects that are planned for agriculture.
The simple truth is that the plantations were mostly abandoned by the owners while governments were blackmailed into heavily subsidizing the sugar industry.
The entire agricultural sector was neglected by the traditional plantocracy and the taxpayers were left to underwrite it.
We will continue to underwrite it because successive governments can find millions of ways to keep the struggling masses in their place but have no balls when it comes to dealing with their economic masters.
So, as expected the attempts to promote Comrade Prescod as one who will deliberately encourage crop theft is not only dishonest but certainly again proves that the society is still far from accepting the truth.
Massa must be smiling when he read how quickly some wanted him to know that they will deal with Comrade Prescod.
There is not one line where the Comrade said or encouraged anybody to steal crops. Not one.
Peace.
@ David.
No a proper plan must be based on market needs and volumes. Planting must reflect demand. Hence neither glut nor shortage should occur. What you don’t want is everyone growing onions the same time or tomatoes the same time. This is where the Ministry and assoc comes in.
@ David
You’re referring to a time when several farmers planted onions, resulting in a
glut of onions on the market?
Such situations have occurred on several occasions.
I believe there should be a ‘farmers’ co-operative,’ for example, which could conduct market research and analysis…… and produce
periodic informational and analytical reports, relative to impact of weather conditions, supply, demand, price, volume and the associated economic factors.
Another thing, since we’re so concerned about
preadial larceny, how about those guys who are at roundabouts on the ABC highway selling sugar-cane?
@Artax
This is the point, we promote the need to improve agriculture but the strategies to ensure it is a success leaves a lot to question.
You should recall one of the benefits of Sandals on the island was the opportunity for local producers to align production with the procurement policy of Sandals. What has become of that approach? If tourism is the only sector why have we been unable to integrate other sectors with it to optimize?
“The simple truth is that the plantations were mostly abandoned by the owners while governments were blackmailed into heavily subsidizing the sugar industry.
The entire agricultural sector was neglected by the traditional plantocracy and the taxpayers were left to underwrite it.
We will continue to underwrite it because successive governments can find millions of ways to keep the struggling masses in their place but have no balls when it comes to dealing with their economic masters.”
they allowed themselves to be blackmailed by fraudulent, tiefing corrupt plantation owners… birds of a feather..
William….you know what to expect on BU from the usual suspects, you know…they never disappoint.
The BADMC is responsible for keeping track of onion production and importing ONLY when necessary. Unfortunately, people who were allowed to import onions for manufacturing only were putting onions into the market for sale to consumers. I think that is what caused the glut.
Decades ago, it was determined that poultry and onions were two areas in which Barbados could become self-sufficient and BADMC was tasked with facilitating it.
Unfortunately, the solar drying facility that would enable onions to last much longer as those imported from Holland do, has been long promised but has not materialised as yet. I wonder why. It is a damn drier running off the sun, for chrissake!
William,
I did pick up on Artax’s point and added my two cent’s worth.. But this was not what the blog was about. However, it has been brought up before, many times on BU.
I cannot understand why you and others persist in pointing fingers at what others “are willing to discuss”. You are at liberty to discuss it. Have your posts been taken down?
Have you submitted a piece for posting and had it rejected?
And why the remark dropping about the agricultural projects? I reported what I know to be happening. I also put it out there that we need someone who can seriously evaluate where we are and where we need to go.
The blogmaster allows us to post. The blogmaster allows us to submit articles.
What the hell does it matter what the blogmaster (or others) is willing to discuss when you have free rein to discuss it?
STEUPSE!
Trevor, talking bare shite. Perhaps, if he had skin in the game in the form of savings, borrowed money and long hours of labor he would think different.
How many of you have ever invested in a farm only for the thieves to come and steal every shite? Cuddear, tell me it’s a poor black man who stealing from a poor black man like himself trying to make a difference by engaging in the thankless field of farming.
Why do we use hunger to encourage wrongdoing?
@Kammie
We have people who are loyal ideologues.
ARTAX
IN THE EARLY 80’S SOME AGENCY ATTEMPTED MARKET RESEARCH AND WOULD PUBLISH INFORMATION IN THE PAPERS WEEKLY ——-I CANT REMEMBER HOW LONG THIS LASTED
BUT I DO REMEMBER TIMES ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMER OF 82 WHEN SOME FARMERS GOT CRUSHED WHEN LARGE PLANTATIONS WOULD PRODUCE A GLUT AND DRIVE DOWN PRICES AND ALSO CORNER THE MARKET
WE HAVE ALSO TWO STALWARTS WHOSE NAMES I CAN NOT REMEMBER WHO GAVE ADVICE ON LOCAL RADIO THEN
WE HAVE NOT APPARENTLY BEEN ABLE TO REPLACE SUCH
@ David
I remember the Sandals initiative….. and, the Sandals Foundation donated equipment, tools and supplies to support practical training for students enrolled in the agriculture programme at the Barbados Community College.
However, I haven’t heard or read anything to suggest whether or not the arrangement is still in progress.
But, Sandals Resorts International is known for showcasing Jamaican products as the as first choice to guests, ahead of local products, in every Caribbean island where there is a Sandals hotel.
Sandals announced purchasing 5.4 million pounds of produce from local Jamaican farmers every year.
In September 2012, they announced a renewed relationship with Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum, which would become the first choice rum at all Sandals and Beaches Resorts throughout the Caribbean.
And, “Jamaica Blue Mountain Blend Coffee is served exclusively throughout all Sandals specialty restaurants, French-style cafés, Club Sandals Lounges, self-serve coffee stations and room service.”
Taking the above information into consideration…… I DON’T believe it wouldn’t UNREASONABLE to ASK if they import produce from Jamaica…… especially given the fact ‘government’ WAIVED ALL import duties, taxes, imposts and levies of any nature whatsoever, including VAT, on the importation of food, alcohol and other beverages.
Is it fair when I do two jobs including farming to make a difference in my life while trying to feed country. To say or impute that persons who are hungry should be allowed to just steal my crops is pure epic stagnant hogwash.
Three young men wanted work and were asked to contact me by a politician, they lamented how hard things were and they wanted to be independent. Non ain’t last past 2 weeks at $10 per hour. Slept at lunch, smoked the ganga shite during the day as they needed inspiration so they say, complained about tiredness and eat nuff rock cakes and corn curls washed down by cokes daily. Poor, diets and chemical imbalances impacts moods.
So as usual, most will talk bare jobby as theorist without experiential or practical experiences.
Artax,
Still going. I saw a picture of students in the paper and an article a few weeks ago about the Sandal’s initiative.
@David, we need to tell these ideologist they are perpetuating the entitlement syndrome, mendicancy, indifference, laziness and generations of generational parasites. The rate of change is no longer incremental but exponential.
Barbados punching above its weight has created a falsehood in a country where meritocracy, deceitfulness and productivity is dismal.
Are backsides going starve for we have not the common sense to realize that food sovereignty has to compliment food security.
Wake me up when we have packaging and Argo processing of local produce.
@Kammie H
Trevor, talking bare shite. Perhaps, if he had skin in the game in the form of savings, borrowed money and long hours of labor he would think different
+++++++++++
Nailed it.
As I have mentioned before, the problem with the tourism linkage is one of supply, not demand. I have sat in meetings where this was discussed.
Restaurants or hotels need a consistent supply of a certain quality. Most farmers in Barbados would have to form a co-op or at least a partnership to meet the requirements.
I know of two farmers who formed a partnership and obtained a contract for cucumbers and tomatoes. The two of them were looking to juck out each other’s eyes and just so the contract was broken and lost.
ALL chefs prefer fresh produce. And I believe they are responsible for stocking the kitchens. They tend to get their way.
The problem in Barbados, is the supply.
“Non(e) ain’t last past 2 weeks at $10 per hour.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Wouldn’t it be EASIER for them to steal and sell the produce, without ‘putting in any hard work,’…… and when caught, seek sympathy by lamenting they are ‘poor Black men trying to mek a dollar?’
On another note, what surprises me is there are several illegal Haitians in Barbados, some of whom are working in the agricultural sector.
They associate amongst themselves, which under the circumstances, is ‘okay.’
But, what concerns me is some of them have young children who are not benefitting from any time of proper child care or education.
She didn’t say it outright… but 80,000 new Bajans are coming soon.
That was your only takeaway? 80k people coming?
Steuspe
To be FAIR, perhaps the “80,000 new Bajans” would’ve came in under the previous administration.
After all, remember, the recommendation was first made by Ronald Jones and Donville Inniss.
But, as the saying goes, ‘government is a continuum.’
That was my only take away.
You can enlighten me on others.
My mind is open
@ Donna
I really don’t know where you’re coming from. I never once said what people should discuss, I merely said that that his (@ Artax) well put points were obviously ignored. That was not any call to discuss anything ; it was a mere observation , said in the context of the discussion.
2
I am not “ dropping any remarks about the agricultural projects , I simply said I will wait and see how they turn out.
I have a similar position on matters pertaining to education.
Just waiting to see how the reforms will be explained .
I say exactly what I want to say. We have that in common.
Peace.
It looks as if you have returned with fire in your belly and the task of getting the choir to sing in harmony.
Good luck.
William….i spoke to one of the Lauries, the one who was into agriculture, he has since passed away, he told me that i think it was Canada, that was many years ago…..donated an onion drying machine to the BADMC or whatever it’s called now….and you already know the problem with weak black minds…they turned it into who has power to allow the drying of onions and who will be able to use it…….arguing back and forth on their little power trip…..which lasted for YEARS he said until the piece of equipment rusted away having been left in the elements and became unusable….never used…
these people are not serious and NEVER WILL BE…am using that word more often today……
it’s a pattern, not the first time either…..common practice..
That was Keith Laurie…
he told me never get any great expectations from any of them…..and he should know, he spent i believe upwards of 5 decades working with them..
Yuh meaning me? Nah! I said what I meant.
Kammie,
Twice you have offered me seedlings and twice I haven’t followed up. I’m sure I’ll get around to it at some point. Right now, I have so many seeds to get rid of that I can hardly handle anything more. Your offers are always appreciated.
Anybody with a knowledge of the development of agriculture in Bim will know how vibrant and productive the Ministry of Agriculture used to be .
All of this talk about kitchen gardens and the need fro crop rotation is nothing new.
There was a time anybody could walk into the department, I think out there by Harrisons College and get seeds either free or at a minimal cost.
There were excellent live stock stations and many people tried to go to study agriculture in Trinidad. These agricultural officers were fully integrated into the farming / agricultural community.
All of this was destroyed by ignorant politicians from both parties on one hand and the plantocracy that had no intentions in pumping money into the industry on the other.
So all of this pretty talk and reinventing the wheel is okay but to pretend it’s some thing new is really interesting.
We should ask ourselves why COW Williams abandoned the argo plant so quickly but could then put such energies into a marina .
Obviously the economic masters put their energies where they wanted to and it was not agriculture.
And while we are at it let’s go a bit further and ask why the foundries were allowed to disappear.
And then ask ourselves the role that Barbados Shipping and Trading played in the destruction of agriculture.
Peace.
The success/performance of the ministry of agriculture can only be measured by one KPI, increase in agriculture output as reported in the GDP reporting put out by central bank. Any other comment not supported by this metric is tossing shit in the air.
I did not know where it came from but it was in the possession of the BADC (before it merged with the BMC) at Spencers. That solar dryer rusted away decades ago. Kammie’s aunt, might know the story of the rusting. I never heard why it was not put to use.
I was talking about a more recent proposal .
There was also an agro-processing plant at BADC, Fairy Valley that was left to rust.
“There was a time anybody could walk into the department, I think out there by Harrisons College and get seeds either free or at a minimal cost.”
Crumpton St…i used to get seeds from them years and years ago, at one time if you were exporting you could get phytosanitary certificates from a building close by…..don’t know how the set up is now..
these little shite title holders with taxpayer-paid salaries and power trips from clowns with their heads filled with cotton wool is killing everything that could prosper on the island…and has SYSTEMATICALLY KILLED ALL UPWARD MOBILITIY..
I had a very unfortunate experience with one of these said power tripping clowns…..turned me completely off of doing any business with government entities…..their loss not mine, they have DEGRADED CONSIDERABLY SINCE THEN..
If the wheel has rusted, one would need to reinvent it.
Everybody knows what happened with our agriculture. The powers that were favoured tourism, put all the eggs in one basket and now the chickens are coming home to roost rotten eggs.
We will either get serious or we will suffer the dire consequences.
P.S. I know people at BADC who were sent all the way to Israel to do short courses in Agriculture.
LOL
Wuh if Kammie gwine be getting on so waxxy, Bushie cud as well retire from BU.
From Bushie’s questionable recollection, Kammie used to be one of the soft-hearted people who saw the good in all brass bowls
Now the man aint making no kinda sport at all!!!
Kammie must be seeing that the light at the end of our tennel …is an oncoming train…..
@Donna, my offers still stand. I actually was close to the late Prof Oliver Headley and he gave me the idea how to build one…thus I would go to his office to absorb his wisdom. The area at Spencers is no more and now houses Airport Security.
@Bushie Tea de stone thrower, I cannot hide and throw stones, more is achieved when you speak to the truth without hiding for persons are smart enough to know not to take chances with you. A coward dies a thousand deaths before he actually dies.
@Donna, so many are going into Agriculture that the streets will soon be looking like down town Accra and St Vincent where every street corner taken up by vendors.
Truth, be told, the world is becoming a place where politicians and their backers are becoming wealthier and the middle class becomes poor leading to the poor becoming abjectly poorer.
What did we learn from the ash fall? Zilch, for we still waiting on a savior to come from the clouds and save our lazy indifferent backsides. Still no quest to understand Food Security and Food Sovereignty must go hand in hand.
Not seed depository.
Agent Orange cousin 2-D-4 still imported into the island. Destruction of natural soil biome.
Who are the agents for RoundUp, Paraquat and Gramoxone and how much did they contribute towards political campaigns and if so which party?
How can jokers get on tv encouraging persons to eat healthy but no testing regime exist to uncover harmful chemical residue among imported and local food crops?
We are a country big on fluff and slow on execution unless some indirect emotional benefit can be had.
TheOGazertsAugust 10, 2022 11:50 AM
“All hell would break loose if plantation owners pulled that stunt.”
You have added a next dimension here and you (are) may be correct. However, I suspect your arrived at your conclusion based on race.
You will state it sooner or later.
Also, why do you give the MMMM a pass as the same issue would exist. Is it because of how we look at marijuana
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Race does not enter it!!!
You are out of touch with land ownership in Barbados.
Barbados Farms owns most of the St. George Valley which in turn is owned by Sagicor.
St. John is mostly owned by CLICO.
St. Peter and St. James are more or less out of agriculture.
Much of St. Andrew is owned by the GOB.
CLICO is no more.
William SkinnerAugust 10, 2022 6:02 PM
Anybody with a knowledge of the development of agriculture in Bim will know how vibrant and productive the Ministry of Agriculture used to be .
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What you will find is that most plantations were privately owned and operated and relied on skillful crop rotation to maintain soil productivity and enhance revenues.
I remember Colin Hudson had a graph of the falling sugar output vs involvement by GOB!!
A big problem farmers face is having cleared and cultivated land is keeping it clean.
Herbicides work but have undesired effects.
But how was it done when there were no herbicides?
Crop rotation.
Sugar Cane was grown on 80% of the land and the other 20% left fallow or used to generate cash crops.
Sugar Cane provided weed control.
Once you got reaped the first crop, the trash kept down most of the weeds.
Inter cropping was also used.
When you give a man an acre to farm there is no way he can control weeds in a wet season without help.
We really need to be back in sugar cane.
You could plant force backs in June and also root crops among the canes.
Start with yams in May.
In 3 months, potatoes would be ready, 6 months cassava and 9 months yam.
Obviously mechanical harvesting would be out of the question so there would be a need for labour.
We have plenty of people who turn up to pick cotton when it is ready.
Why not turn up to dig potatoes and yams, and pull cassava, plus get a little exercise?
The only sector which can provide employment growth is the agricultural sector.
Construction is a dead end activity and retail and tourism are probably maxed out.
JOHN
COLIN HUDSON WAS A GIANT
HE NEW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERY PLANTATION AND WHO PRODUCED WHAT AND WHENCE IT WENT
IT WAS A JOY TO LISTEN TO HIM TALK ABOUT THESE MATTERS
@ Waru,
Off message
This is a good read.
https://dissidentvoice.org/2017/05/corrupt-canadian-banking-practices/
DavidAugust 10, 2022 8:29 PM
CLICO is no more.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Really!!
Yep…they are sketchy and people are wary of them, how could billion dollar bank accounts get separated from genuine account holders and all manner of documents disappear from secure vaults depriving estate owners of their properties and NO ONE CAN TRACE the disappeared bank accounts or the conveyances/deeds etc…….they just poof into thin air…..people must find alternatives…
“A recent photo in French daily Liberation hints at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s role in facilitating tax avoidance, which is partly an outgrowth of Canadian banking prowess in the Caribbean and Ottawa’s role in shaping the region’s unsavoury financial sector.”
“Obviously mechanical harvesting would be out of the question so there would be a need for labour.”
exactly…that’s why they need to put you LAZY ASS MINORITIES TO WORK THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS…..get some indentured servant memories back about what real work is all about , scamming and living off AFRIKAN LIVES for the last 100 years is not work…it’s thievery and scummy fraud…
TLSN….even worse, how could the KNOWN CROOKED LAWYERS on the island shift people’s bank accounts to places like Bermuda and Bahamas and across the diaspora without inside help in facilitating such MASSIVE THEFTS….
John is probably correct about tourism and retail being almost maxed out. Construction still has a little room, I think.
He is also correct about agriculture.
Properly managed agriculture. We need to get over the hang ups and get moving.
Kammie,
Don’t be too hard on the youngsters. As the ole Bajan would say, “Dum en accustom!” It takes a while to get used to agricultural labour.
First hurdle, they would have to get up real early so that most of the work could be done before the real hot sun hit. Nothing wrong with a “siesta”. Spanish people have the right idea. They were also smart with their sombreros.
Like the Spanish folk, they could do a bit more after 4.00p.m., like I do. I find many pests on my plants at that time and deal with them then.
You are indeed correct that they need to eat better in order to have stamina enough to work. These young people don’t eat right. If I left it to my son, he wouldn’t cook a veg or make a salad. I buy him Ensure to fill in when I don’t feel like cooking and he cooks instead.
A hint, lil marijuana does not stop you from working. It does not stop RASTA. It is the timing of its use that is critical.
The fellas also would need to keep hydrated.
Cuhdear, Kammie! You have to be patient with the youngsters and bring them along!
Handling youngsters is a skill. It is also rewarding.
Afrikan youths do not need to work on BARBADOS’ SLAVE PLANTATIONS….there is so many other ways to create livelihoods than slaving away on Barbados crooked ass minorities land….let them work the land themselves….
all Afrikan descents are ENTITLED to have a piece of land to work for their survival….JUST LIKE IN SURINAME…each citizen gets a small piece to call their own, to supplement income and food security……they did that DECADES AGO…what’s holding them back is when corrupt politicians…suck all the money out of the economy with their bribery and create hardships like is happening there and all across the Caribbean…
*there are so many other ways to create livelihoods
It’s amazing that in the 21st CENTURY…..pushing Afrikan youths and others into generational low paying plantation slavery, where they cannot even get a pension because of greedy plantation owners…. is the only thing black people know and have as a suggestion for our generations when THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER ALTERNATIVES OUT THERE…
people are creating all types of opportunities for themselves and others…..no reason to be a plantation slave in this day and era while claiming “educated” status…
everyone should be ASPIRING to be self-sufficient, self-employed, INDEPENDENT and not wait for any wannabe slave masters in the minority crimunity or judas governments to turn you into a pauperized, generational slave to line their pockets……
Many people have read this across the globe…can’t remember if i posted it here….but am sure the ones suggesting slave labor for Afrikan people would never want same for their children or future generations…..why black faces are SO DETERMINED to reenslave our youths and Afrikan people is not really a mystery but they do need a very rude awakening..
Editorial
By Yolande Grant
Enslavement, Addiction, Sickness & Death by Sugar Plantation
The unbelievable madness and unabashed inhumanity people at the management level flaunt is a continuum of ruination for melanated people. In this age, and circumstances there is a recent plea for descents to make themselves available for sugar plantation work at world famous slave outlets built for the purpose of Afrikan human life reduction, that are centuries old and controversial was shown, in all its gruesomeness. The life expectancies of the kidnapped, involuntarily forced to work in killing fields were a mere 18 years old in times of enslavement. The deplorable structures still stand as testimony and horrific silent reminder of what our ancestors braved.
One would not believe any of it when hearing so called experts expounding on the “glorious past” of our ancestor’s misery and torture in feel good articles of dismay. Despite our rotating out of the 16th and 18th points in history so long ago into modern times, the idea that this cruelty is thought of as reformed and determinedly reintroduced again in 2022 to enrich private investors who fancy themselves slave masters, given the track records of those who infest the island, is a bitter pill to swallow: where it appears some have not moved on and now enticing our people to revert to humiliation instead of switching up the people dynamic if they see people as slaves in the 21st century: why revert to those who are descended from the enslaved, while there are others available within minority groups who are also quite capable of performing the same tasks of growing sugarcane and working acreage to plant food.
The lack of care and disregard attached angered those who know instinctively this does not bode well for another generation of Afrikans seen as only fit for lifelong servitude and inflating the bank accounts of lazy and greedy nonblacks . There is insult and ancestral injury associated with using the tax money of descendants of the enslaved to subsidize and boast about a slavery sugar industry over the last 50 years. The backward thinking prompted a response and reasonable suggestion from the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies in April: advising the government to instead use the available plantation lands for agriculture forthwith as a national emergency. There were at least 1,000 such estates in existence over a 400-year timeline that has since halved, so the nonavailability of land is not the issue. A process of food security which everyone, except the elected, knows once adopted is instrumental in staving off approaching crisis’s that already placed the people of many countries on the road to poverty, starvation and under extreme economic stress, due to external shocks, and that is just the beginning. This demeaning plot and callous behavior does not begin to describe how ignoring the fact: food production and distribution are much more important and healthier than cultivating and harvesting sugarcane for addictive consumption.
Evidence is available outlining the sugar fixation introduced to the population over multiple epochs that has medically devastated Black families. The end result is reportedly half the senior citizens 60 years and older grapple with high incidences of hypertension, diabetes, and additional myriad non-communicable lifestyle diseases (NCDs). With the ages for diabetics and hypertensives dropping lower, impacting younger people when passed on generationally as a legacy and unnecessarily burdening the healthcare system. In June of 2022, a well-known pediatrician on the island asked for legislative action to control “the escalating childhood obesity epidemic affecting the island” and further asserted that as reported 31 per cent of the children in Barbados are considered overweight and obese, and 8 in 10 deaths related to this disease signifies, while stressing that “NCDs are killing us early.” Therefore, ending unhealthy practices is of great imperative. The island has the unenviable acclaim as the largest group with ailments found anywhere, often referred to as the number one “amputation capital” due to its astronomical percentages, out of all the others found around the earth: and mentioned by the Vice Chancellor as the “sickest people in the world.”
With no innovative leadership in place, descendants remain at a distinct disadvantage and must exercise vigilance for those who carry oppressive tendencies and the dishonesty of their willing helpers who have no scruples, ethics, or loyalty to our ancestry. The injustice cannot continue or revive through stealth and sleight of hand, and if this latest episode from the visionless is miraculously retracted, because of the outrage and backlash that is likely to occur, the damage is already done. The shiftless investors, with fantasies of grandeur of Afrikans as their underlings feeding, enriching them with free labor, for little pay, and no accrued benefits; while they busily weaponize false promises for another hundred years to achieve an inheritance for their equally feckless descents, are due for a well-deserved and pronounced rude awakening with worldwide exposure.
Concretized in place, are many instances of alleged employer discrimination and unfair practices in every sector that carries its own endowment: but treacherously including the contemptuous discourtesy of resuscitating the sugar industry as a back-breaking, low paying profession for Afrikan people only, and attempting to advertise it as a miracle to save the economy, is a crime worthy of prison time and attributed to the subterranean level thought processes oozing out of wild beasts. More horrifying to imagine, that aged workers from plantations are allegedly denied pensions, although armed with a court judgement in hand for interim payments and ignored for many years by civil servants responsible for paying salaries and social security. The majority group, for their security, health, and financial wellbeing of families, should at all times avoid, at all costs, slave plantations aligned with the manufacturing of sugar.
And as far as am concerned and ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY REFUSE TO LEGALIZE THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA and made a mess of it with their arrogance……..but boasting about how they sold 9 licenses split between to 2 marijuana cultivators for 1.5 million dollars.
..Afrikan youths and the general population….SHOULD NOT WORK ON ANY MARIJUANA SLAVE PLANTATIONS EITHER…no one should…there are much better alternatives available, ya only need a WORKING BRAIN to figure it out…
Africa ….so your saying you dont have an answer lol
This morning in my home town I went to breakfast with two friends , two eggs bacon home fries toast and peanut butter marmalade or jam for 3 ….two medium coffees one large tea…..clean airconditioned place cost me $ 23.10. for everything. either its govt tax or greed but somebody is making money on the island
“Africa ….so your saying you dont have an answer lol”
I actually have answers but will NOT give them any, remember they are the SCHOOLED, they know evating about evating…..so i don’t understand WHY they keep FAILING…lol
“either its govt tax or greed but somebody is making money on the island”
it’s nothing by GREED and WICKEDNESS…remember people go to the island like yourself and can compare prices….someone close to me is currently in Vancouver….on your Pacific side and can still affort breakfast, lunch and dinner, AND A PLACE TO STAY…and won’t have to dip into savings just to survive a few weeks…
*but
*afford
Coconut farmer Mahmood Patel is calling for the Scotland District to be used as a hub for growing coconuts.
He said coconuts needed water, and the Scotland District got a lot more water when compared to the flat area of St George or St Philip.
The warnings are getting more and more serious….let the game players continue playing their political games…and when they hear that knock, knock, shouldn’t have to ask who is there.
William….despite YEARS AND YEARS of warnings, they cared nothing about food security, only interested in talking about importing and in the very next breath complaining about the 700,000 dollar food import bill….while claiming it’s cheaper to import……..during their usual feat of talking out of both sides of their mouths at the same time…so let’s see how taking out three sides of their mouths work out for them now that there is a new player in place…HIGH ENERGY COSTS…
“Soaring Energy Prices Bring Europe-Wide Food Poverty (report)
Food producers tackling increased production costs are passing on the increases to hard-up consumers, causing a domino effect – which is driving up food poverty across the continent. (Bloomberg).
The Bank of England-cited report claimed that 10% of income will be eaten up by energy costs – that’s as former UK PM Gordon Brown estimates more than 7 million British kids will “be in families that have to forgo material necessities”.
To make matters worse, food factories could be forced to shut down as winter energy rationing looms, Bloomberg warned. “
For the record, I made no suggestion that we should return to work for any minority massa on any plantation.
@Lawson August 11, 2022 12:19 PM “This morning in my home town I went to breakfast with two friends , two eggs bacon home fries toast and peanut butter marmalade or jam for 3 ….two medium coffees one large tea…..clean airconditioned place cost me $ 23.10. for everything.”
If you had bought those meals in a far north Canadian town would it have cost $23.10
right cudhear not in barbados two coffeeand a biscuit costs that how can the regular guy survive.
Source: Nation
Source: Barbados Today
@ David
We should refer to this government as the ‘Nero Administration’.
Lotta shiite!!
They are ‘fiddling while Bridgetown burns’.
Every other week we are hearing of some esoteric plan to work ‘jointly’ with some other misguided country, to solve our problems in agriculture.
Shiite man!! how did this get to be so hard?
Same way that they could mobilize hundreds of young people to weed the roads – knowing that the weeds will simply grow back after the next rain, why not mobilize the SAME resources to get into PRODUCTIVE businesses, under the guidance of KNOWN experts in the various fields?
Send 500 to work with our BEST farmers for the next six month, with the understanding that each program will be extended for another six months, if it breaks even.
Send 200 to the NCC specifically to clean up, beautify, and maintain Bridgetown. Remove derelict junk, uplift properties at the owners expense where possible, and level fines on those owners that breech building codes.
Assign 400 to the Disciplinary forces as apprentice support staff that can perform basic duties and free regular staff for other needed duties.
But, Instead of creative initiatives, all we get are these shiite schemes that involve traveling overseas and handing out taxpayers money to questionable characters.
Let them keep on fiddling…..
BBs!!!
@Bush Tea
In other words borrow froM Fidel Castro’s handbook? It would fit nicely with the Mottley’s mantra many hands make light work.
Is it not just plain common sense David?
EVERYTHING points to a coming food crisis.
We now know that supply chain disruptions can create havoc with even very basic commodities, and that it would only take a moment of madness to precipitate a massive global supply chain blockage.
What would ANY sensible preemptive response look like?
The Basics are simple:
Food, energy, water, security.
@Bush Tea
It is also a wholesome national strategic imperative every boy, girl, man and woman will be able to identify.
@Bush Tea
As you know the buzz thing out of the MBA handbook is about building strategic alliances. Seems this is what is guiding the academic bounded personnel leading us.
@ David
MBA Handbook?
Manufacturing Brassbowls in Abundance … fuh de damn place.
LOL
Murda!!