Hugh MartinFEEDBACK IS perhaps the most vital link in what communicators call "the communication loop". This is because it provides a quick indication of the success of the process. Has the message been received? Was it understood? The Gleaner understands this well and that's why it gives so much space to its "Letters to the Editor" section. By use of its Internet link it has extended this service to readers worldwide - and they are using it.
I am amazed sometimes at the great interest Jamaicans abroad have in the field of Agriculture and at the speed with which they respond via E-mail to my columns. I have very often received comments well before my copy of The Gleaner is delivered. While this might be reflecting the deficiency of my vendor it does speak to the effectiveness of the paper's web-site. Commendations are therefore in order.
But, while I have been receiving these many responses very few have been appearing in the Letters to the Editor columns; perhaps due to limited space? That is such a pity as quite a few have made very good reading and a lot of sense sometimes. Like one I received as a response to a piece I did late last year on Alternative Agriculture. It came from a gentleman who prefers not to be identified. He was somewhat upset with what he saw as our "underlying unwillingness to change" and our "tendency to jump on the bandwagon of any new ideas that are prevailing". Forget the oxymoron obvious in the link of those two accusations. He went on to make suggestions which our policy-makers may find interesting. I reproduce it with minimum editing:
"The sugar industry as it is now structured is dead and had been moribund for decades. I understand that there are large numbers of people who depend on this industry for survival and it would not be an easy thing to toss them out on the street. We must therefore find ways around making this choice. But I believe the industry can be restructured and saved and that even more jobs be created.
We must acknowledge though that we are a small country and can only offer small quantities to the world market. Our small quantities must therefore bring in the highest value they can attain. Once we understand this we will stop enslaving the majority of our people so the minority can live good.
For example, we are acknowledged worldwide as having the best coffee in the world. This we export as raw bean at a pittance. What if we took our sugar and our coffee and created value-added products, candies, drinks, snacks etc. all marketed to the wealthy who buy only the best. Now I know the government is not the ["engine of growth"], but in Jamaica it usually takes the government to start any major project and then find ways of attracting private participation. The private sector in Jamaica is made up of expatriates or upper class [individuals] who keep their money abroad and are packed and ready to leave at the drop of a hat, as Butch Stewart once threatened.
What I am thinking of is really an effort that is consolidated with each product, each industry tied together for mutual support and prosperity. When one product or industry no longer fits into the puzzle and no longer offers value we dump it and look for a replacement. Again, let's look at sugar. Maybe we could try to develop our own machines for mechanisation. If we could do this then we could build an industry around it. But knowing that it needs to sustain itself we could start with the goal of also building small tractors for our many small farmers and other machinery unique to our climate and conditions thus ensuring a market among tropical countries.
Take yam. Many of us abroad are always looking for the stuff, many times you find it you waste your money buying, because the quality is poor or it is rotten. I understand the problems of fresh produce and the hoops that one has to jump through to export the stuff. But does it have to be fresh? Is it possible to cook it and can it. If this is possible we may be able to export to other countries where people also eat it. You see Jamaica's problem is not that we don't have what it takes to be great. It is that we are "follow fashin" and our business leaders really have no interest in making the country great. Change is good. Understanding who we are and what we are is good. Knowing our capacity is good. All these things help to plot the way forward. You should try to convince the businessmen, farmers and politicians that there is always another way and sometimes a better way. Maybe what we really need is an independent government corporation with the goal of taking our Agriculture and leveraging it across the other industries. Even creating new industries where possible."
Views from a Jamaican living abroad. What do you think?
Hugh Martin is a communication specialist and farm broadcaster. E-mail: humar@cwjamaica.com.
