The Editor, Sir:

Outside of the performance of our sporting heroes, it is clearer now than ever that Jamaica needs a catalyst for our economic recovery. It's also clear that if Jamaicans are going to have any confidence in our ability as a people to lift ourselves, considering the current state of our education, health, infrastructure, skills and our justice system, this vehicle will have to be home-grown.

I would also argue that this catalyst started in the latter years of the previous administration and has been ratcheted up by this Government and must be sustained.

I am willing to go out on a limb at this early stage and declare Member of Parliament Christopher Tufton as the single-most important person at the centre of our economic recovery. To make this work for Jamaica, the Opposition must become a constructive critic, offering realistic ideas and suggestions. The Jamaican people aside, it is glaringly obvious that the only aspect of the real economy over which we have sufficient control is an inefficient agricultural sector.

Cultural sector critical

To this extent, it took a global recession for many thoughtful young Jamaicans to realise that, like health care and education, development of the agricultural sector is critical to Jamaica's economic stability over the short, medium and long term. The sector should be fashioned so that it becomes the homeostasis of our economy. The levels of poverty among our people predispose us to a consumerist dot in global trade. Tufton must get the 'bones' of agriculture right. If we can have sustained performances in agriculture comparable to Beijing and Berlin, then the rest will be history.

I regard this as Jamaica's economic 'teaching moment' and the media must play their role in cementing this lesson. Economics doesn't get any easier! The point here is that with only a partial increase in the agricultural sector the, economy, so far, has been able to see some containment in the general rise in prices. While agriculture cannot take our economy into First-World status it can be the pillar on which we are assured we will not fall below.

Agriculture is the only sector that remains crisis-proof, barring the vagaries of weather. In this new millennium, development cannot take a copy-cat approach, it must remain dynamic with a solid core that should not be outsourced and it is sufficient for Jamaica's food security.

The agricultural policy must concentrate on, among directional integrations, protecting agriculture for our own success. This debate should continue with a few PhDs looking into the comparative advantages of outsourcing agriculture versus growing our own food, considering our ills, attributes, exposure and vulnerability to global exogenous factors.

It is extremely important for the media, analysts and politicians on both sides to let Jamaicans understand the impact they have had and will continue to have on containing the impact of the current and future recessions by growing most of what they eat.

I am, etc.,

GARNETT WAITE

garnett.waite@gmail.com