Prime Minister Mia Mottley is pressing the giant Massy supermarket chain to make contract buy-in a formal part of its operations, arguing that farmers need guaranteed markets and greater financial stability if Barbados is to expand its agricultural base.
She then immediately upped the ante on the proposed initiative, announcing the government would provide $2 million per quarter to facilitate contract buy-in efforts.
The funds would allow the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) and Export Barbados to work with Massy and other stakeholders to help get the agro-processing industry “fully up and going,” she said.
Mottley made the proposal during Monday’s reopening of the Massy Stores Worthing branch in Christ Church, which followed a $46 million investment.
She said while Massy was moving in the right direction, farmers could not be expected to increase production based simply on the possibility that supermarkets might purchase their crops.
“In order for the agricultural sector to truly come into its own, there are a couple of things that are needed. [One is] the importance of contract buy-in.
“What farmers need more than anything else is the stability of a contract to know when I grow, I have a market.”
She recalled instances where farmers had been encouraged to produce for a particular market, only to be told at the last minute that their produce was no longer required.
“I believe you’re going in the right direction, but I do not believe that you will get there without formally moving to contract buy-in.”
Mottley also argued that the region’s small populations meant Caribbean countries could not achieve the scale needed to transform agriculture without looking beyond CARICOM for markets.
“This region is severely underpopulated. With the exception of Haiti, every country in this Caribbean region is underpopulated.
“It means that effectively, across CARICOM, we do not have the scale.”
She pointed to Europe’s demand for tropical fruits and vegetables and Africa’s reliance on imported food as opportunities for Caribbean producers, noting that Africa imports almost $5 billion in fish annually, while only 1.5 per cent comes from the Caribbean.
Expanding exports could simultaneously strengthen regional food security, create opportunities for farmers and manufacturers, and help make food more affordable, the Prime Minister suggested.
She praised Massy’s strategic shift towards accessing markets outside the region, saying those markets could help stabilise foreign exchange earnings while creating more reliable outlets for regional producers.
But she stressed that farmers and manufacturers needed much more than promises: “They cannot do it on the basis of a promise. They need contract buy-in.” (SB)
