Didn’t We Net Millions For Sugar From That Last Guilt Trip We Laid On The European Union?
It worked so well last time that we should try it again.
One truth though: This money will never touch a farmer’s hand.
Gotta pay for them flyovers somehow!
CARIBBEAN: Leaders Seek Funds to Transform Agriculture
PORT OF SPAIN, Jun 8 (IPS) – Convinced that agriculture holds the key to the socioeconomic development of the Caribbean, regional leaders have drawn up a project list totaling almost 300 million dollars for regional and international donors to help transform the sector.
The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments submitted a total of 53 packages to the first ever Caribbean agriculture donor conference held here last weekend, organised jointly by the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat.
FAO Director General Jacques Diouf said that at least 200 million dollars would be needed from external sources to kick-start the initiative.
“Together we can overcome hunger and poverty in the region,” Diouf said. “But the financial constraints imposed by inadequate national budgets and the high indebtedness of many countries of the region call for a greater commitment of external donors in a concerted effort to achieve the financial objective.”
… continue reading about the Spendthrift Beggars Conference at InterPress IPS (link here)
5 Comments
June 9, 2007 at 1:51 pm
How are we going to automagically “transform agriculture”
when we’re still stuck with poor soils, marginal annual rainfall and PRAEDIAL LARCENY?
What a laugh!
Governments really do spout rubbish, don’t they?
June 9, 2007 at 2:27 pm
the FAO is part of the bureaucratic problem.
They must appear to be doing something even though their own reports show that there are fundamental flaws, or worse, the money will be stolen by the Caribbean bureaucrats and politicians.
Its about time the EU and FAO demand strict accountability for their organizations. It is better to protect their monies judiciously on behalf of their memeber states than be part of a complete sham.
The EU and FAO have been hiding the truth just to justify their jobs.
June 9, 2007 at 10:54 pm
What’s to “transform” you have to compete with Central America where Chiquita and other’s have huge operations and try to pay their workers only a couple of dollars a day…. And from that slim profit margin you have to be able to constantly buy the newest farm equipment in order to be competitive and hire even less workers the next season.
Globalization is the race– to the bottom if you deal with industries that are mainly “third world”.
June 10, 2007 at 3:49 am
The highest demand world wide is for organic foodstuff. The Caribbean is well suited and in need of agriculture that protects the environment. Our soils need to be replenished, we need agriculture that reduces the use of water and we need to reduce or stop putting harmful chemicals into our soils and bodies. Organic farming can make a massive difference. Naturally there are many challenges in agriculture but we cannot continue to follow the Eurocentric model of mono crop, chemical based farming that depletes the soil. Do you know that soil is the most bio diverse property we have? When we use chemicals on the land we reduce the humus (grass and other compost materials), this leaves the soil dry and open to baking by the sun and blowing in the wind. Chemical farmers then throw in artificial fertilisers which then dry the soil even more requiring more water than if they had left the humus (which retains water) The FAO should stop giving money to governments who then lend the money to farmers through the rural development commission. The governments of the region should encourage organic farming for all the environmental and health benefits and lobby the WTO to delay our reduction in trade barriers as we strive to restructure our agriculture to meet the worldwide demand (and our own local need) for healthy organic fruit and vegetables.
Peace
June 10, 2007 at 11:44 am
Long time ago the old planters who had land nr. the seashore used to send the workers down to the beach to collect the dead Thalassia sea moss that washed up in thick layers.
That stuff was brought back inland, added to the soil, and ‘turned in’ to decompose, and add to it.
Too low-tech for today of course,
not to mention it would keep the beaches clean as well.
Couldn’t do that…naww