In recent weeks, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir has emerged more visibly in the national spotlight. Is this a case of genuinely rising his ministry or strategically positioned in the public eye ahead of a future leadership shuffle within the Barbados Labour Party? Especially with Kirk Humphrey having the inside track?
His recent appearance at the 44th General Meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome, where he outlined a five-point plan for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) caught the attention.. On the local scene the agricultural sector continues to limp forward..
It is easy to spout rhetoric on international platforms, however, the test of leadership is not in the applause received in Nero’s Rome, it is in the fields in the St. George Valley, the six roads of St. Philip and markets struggling to fill stalls with affordable local produce.
Where is the update on the much-touted CoopEnergy project? What progress has been made since 2018 in moving agriculture output from a footnote in national GDP reports? Despite years of ‘talk’ the sector’s contribution remains negligible.
Even more alarming is the silence around persistent crop and livestock diseases that have deflated the confidence of farmers. Meanwhile, prime agricultural land—like that at Constant plantation owned by the Robinsons—is being diverted for non-agricultural use. If we pave over our arable ground in the name of short-term development, where will we grow tomorrow’s food?
The issue of praedial larceny, a constant thorn in the side of food producers, continues to be met with more rhetoric than reform. And our slow integration of cost-effective agricultural technologies only widens the productivity gap.
As veteran farmer Carson Sealy of St. George sucinctly framed it in a recent meeting: “They keep promising to modernize agriculture, but every year, we plant more hope and harvest more excuses.”
If Minister Weir and the government are truly serious about making agriculture sustainable, then STOP treating it like a public relations checkbox and start treating it like a nation-building imperative. Barbados cannot simply “talk pretty” on the international stage while things continue to rot at home.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.