Food Production Matters

There has already been any number of artful notations concerning how Bahamian agriculture can be better articulated with the tourism industry.

But by the same token, there has been little discussion as to how Bahamians should or could produce more food for them-selves.

Clearly the time has come for our people – united in service and love – to look again at how young and not so young Bahamians can be inspired and encouraged to take possession of Bahamian land; how they can be encouraged and helped to work that land and how – in the ultimate analysis – they can become real nation-builders.

The time is now for such a bold move.

That the Bahamas is inordinately dependent on external agencies for all that it consumes, inclusive of food, energy and technology just so happens to be little more than a factoid.

This fact of life comes laden with a multiplicity of challenges; some of these obvious and others decidedly implicit.

There is today every indication that things are going to get even harder in the days, weeks and months ahead.

As a direct consequence of this extreme dependency, Bahamians have become – in the mass – a people who spend the bulk of their earnings on consumption.

In addition, making a fairly good living has not been a challenge to very many Bahamians for many a decade now.

So even where productivity is low and output poor to shoddy, Bahamians could and did get by.

And where they did not earn, there was always some lender or the other prepared to let Bahamians – as the saying goes – buy now and pay later.

This regime is grinding to a halt.

As it does, Bahamians are slowly but surely coming to the realization that they will be obliged to work harder, study more, get more training and otherwise become more competitive if they hope to make it.

In this regard, Prime Minister Hubert A. Ingraham framed the issue at hand earlier this year in an address to the nation. As the nation’s chief admonished, "We must never lose sight of the reality that as the world’s economy shrinks, competition increases. We must therefore place ourselves at the forefront of the drive for efficiency and productivity if we wish to achieve and maintain global competitiveness.

"Each of us has a role to play in this. In the tourism sector in particular we must make a special effort to give good, friendly service to our guests. Those of us who are not directly involved in tourism can also play our part by showing utmost courtesy and helpfulness to visitors with whom we come into contact…"

While this prime ministerial admonition is fine and good as far as it goes, the fact remains that productivity gains have a lot more to do than merely understanding this or that abstract formulation.

What a person produces and the rate at which production takes place is related to a host of other variables, among these are to be found issues related to work-place organization and design, level of worker education and training, whether education and training is ongoing at the work-place and in the wider community.

There are also deeper issues that directly impinge on and which therefore affect productivity. Some of these relate to family background, class status and nutrition; all of which have a direct bearing on the level of work education, training and ultimately work ethic and capacity.

This question of productivity cuts to the heart of that matter that turns on whether the Bahamas has what it takes to compete in the region and in the wider world.

Sadly, the answer must be in the negative.

We just do not have what it takes to compete with nations that have vast numbers of disciplined workers – men and women who work well and hard – and who do have what it takes to create value.

Thus, we reach that place where we must conclude that the time is now for the Bahamian people to realize that the world in which they live, work and where they might prosper, remains one that rewards productivity and creativity.

Since charity does begin at home, it should surely come as no surprise that we now make such strong advocacy for Bahamians to become genuine pioneers in building a safer and saner nation.

Here food production matters.