The Editor, Sir:

The renowned Caribbean economist William Demas alluded to the tendency for interest in, and the burden of, national development to shift to agriculture as soon as recession looms. Once more the proclivity proved itself in the case of Jamaica.

The simple fact is this interest and burden would have shifted to any sector that featured excess capacity that can quickly and cheaply produce the high rates of return. All the more when that sector affects a large segment of the population, is easily quantified and save or earn foreign exchange.

The highly commendable actions of Dr Chris Tufton are more akin to agricultural expansion rather than development. The difference is agricultural expansion will lead to increased production and productivity, whereas agricultural development will give rise to the development not only of agriculture and its associated industries but also, invariably, rural development.

Agricultural development, therefore, would require more than the drafting of elitist dream teams. The recent appointments of the minister are nothing but super but showing a clear bias towards capital and managerial skills without requisite investment in 'softer' expertise such as rural sociology. Even the US army has now acknowledged the role of the softer skills. Anthropologists and social scientists are now embedded with combat units in Afghanistan.

We need to augment the specialisation in marketing, finance and agricultural techniques with the finer, softer skills of the social sciences for the development of rural communities and hence the country. Inasmuch as the application of the social sciences has been hijacked by inner-city issues, we cannot ignore this in plotting rural development. A fully integrated approach must be taken and there is no time like the present to effect this.

I am, etc.,

GREGORY JOHN ROBERTS

g3210ster@gmail.com

University of Birmingham

United Kingdom