Kevon Rhiney, Guest Columnist

The Jamaican tourism industry has been making significant strides in recent years. According to the Planning Institute's Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica (2006), performance-based indicators such as stop-over tourist arrivals, the number of cruise ship passengers, room nights sold and hotel room capacity have generally indicated a growing tourism industry.

Indeed, Jamaica is one of the Caribbean's leading tourism destinations, with a total of 2.6 million visitor arrivals in 2005, of whom approximately 1.5 million were stopover visitors. In the same year, gross visitor expenditure was worth US$1.545 million (PIOJ, 2006).

Of note, Jamaica has received the top award as the Caribbean's Leading Destination at the prestigious 13th annual World Travel Awards. The island also received awards for the Caribbean's Leading Tourist and Convention Bureau (presented to the Jamaica Tourist Board), World's Leading Cruise Destination and the Caribbean's Leading Cruise Destination (presented to the Jamaica Ports Authority).

Peculiar Position

Several studies have shown, however, that despite our burgeoning tourism industry, the net gains from the industry are far below gross receipts.

A recent study carried out by Diaram Ramjee Singh (2003), an economist in the Department of Management Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona, reveals that Jamaica experiences a 50 per cent rate of foreign exchange leakage, meaning that 50 cents out of every dollar earned by tourism exits the Jamaican economy.

He further points out that domestic agriculture and country size were the two most important factors in determining the import content for the tourism industry. The fact is, most of the foods consumed by our tourism industry are imported (field research). This is also reflected in the nation's consumption pattern, as even on supermarket shelves and in local produce markets, one can see the clear distinctions between local and imported food.

Indeed, if Jamaica is to maximise its benefits from tourism development, ways must be found to increase backward economic linkages, including utilising local food products in the tourism industry.

The globalisation of food production and trading policies have resulted in a new world economy that places small island economies such as Jamaica's in a rather peculiar and disadvantageous position. In contrast to tourism, the Jamaican agricultural sector has been experiencing a decline in production over the last two decades. This is felt especially in the export sub-sector.

According to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (2006), production levels in the traditional export crops sub-sector fell by 32.1 per cent between 2003/4 and the 2004/5 crop years and export earnings declined by 54.7 per cent to US$25.7 million over the same period.

Jamaica is now a net importer of food, importing US$602 million worth of food while exporting only US$193 million worth in 2005.

Yet, most of our emphasis is still centred on the traditional export market leaving the domestic agricultural sector largely on its own. There is a need to diversify the agrarian sector and tap into not only new forms of cropping systems but new markets. The tourism industry provides one such opportunity.

A NEW MODEL needed

Small farmers, who make up the backbone of our domestic crop system, have been operating with limited support for many years. Most of the local produce consumed in the hospitality industry is procured from a complex, yet unplanned network of purveyors who either purchase or credit fruits and vegetables from local farmers and then supply these foods to hotels and restaurants on a weekly basis.

While credit must be given to this network of individuals, the particular arrangement is filled with a myriad problems, including a lack of communication between farmers and tourist food representatives, inconsistencies in food quality and quantity, and fluctuating food prices.

As such, a new way of organising and marketing local cropping systems is urgently required. Greater attention needs to be given to small farmers as they are the main suppliers for the local food economy.

Farming needs to be viewed as a business rather than a pastime activity. There is a great need for the injection of new technologies such as hydroponics and greenhouse cultivation in the domestic crop sector. Indeed, there needs to be a formalisation of the linkage between tourism and agriculture in Jamaica.

Cooperative example

The Santoy Farmers' Co-operative serves as one such example. The co-operative is a by-product of an initiative between Sandals and RADA, which was started in 1998.

Sandals provided the seeds and the group would in turn grow the fruits and vegetables from the seeds provided and pay for the seeds out of the sales generated.

While the concept of co-operatives is far from universally popular in Jamaica and does indeed have particular problems, co-operatives do have a great deal of potential not only to reduce farmers' vulnerability to external shocks through facilitating the pooling of resources, but also to provide a stimulus for the formalisation of the linkage between tourism and agriculture in Jamaica.

So, while the Jamaican tourism industry is now at an all-time high, serious consideration needs to be given to the industry's net retention capacity.

Indeed, the greatest benefits that can be provided by tourism will occur when the goods and services that are consumed by that sector originate in the local economy.

Kevon Rhiney is a Ph. D. candidate in the Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies, Mona. Email: kevon89@hotmail.com.