The Jamaican Farmer Today

The Jamaican farmer represents the economic and social geography of the island, most of them being totally self sufficient and independent. Comparisons have been made with foreign developed countries such as the U.S.A., Canada and Japan, and with developing countries such as Nigeria. Jamaica and these countries have a large number of things in common. They all have warm tropical climates. Agriculture is the main economic activity with sugar cane, bananas and subsistence crops such as tomatoes and starchy vegetables as the main produce. This does not mean that you won’t find the prominent chicken farm in Moneague Jamaica.

Jamaica has beautiful white sandy or coral beaches and has established tourist centers; indeed, although countries such as Bahamas and Barbados are heavily dependent on tourism, Jamaica where tourism was paid close attention over the past decades, feverish efforts are being made to attract even more foreign visitors. This has dampened some Jamaica farm efforts. In the early 1970’s there was a move to learn how farmer cooperative can improve in Jamaica.

Industry in Jamaica is still in a primary stage of development. Whilst small textile plants can be found in several parishes, the textile and apparel industries are hampered by small markets and relatively high production costs. Bauxite, found plentifully in Jamaica is exported in a raw or semi-processed state and so the jobs and money that could be gained from downstream activity are lost to more developed countries. Oil processing, shows similar characteristics. This does not mean that one cannot have any luck finding a small farm in Jamaica.

While initial fractions such as gasoline and lubricants are produced in Jamaican refineries, the more expensive petrochemicals are manufactured abroad. The present glut of oil on the world market has therefore meant closure, or a slow down, of oil refining throughout the region. Unfortunately there have been attempts to find alternatives such as the Wigton Wind Farm Jamaica.
Jamaica is an area of relatively fast population growth. Fast city growth also threatens to overwhelm existing urban facilities and the ugly feature of squatting has become a part of our settlement patterns. The migration at one time threatened to reduce the labor for coffee farms Portland Jamaica, leaving berries to wither.

In the light of the above factors, an increasing amount of marginal land has been put into agricultural use such as the popular Farm Hill Jamaica. Unfortunately, the rising demand for land around the main towns for residential and industrial uses has resulted in the loss of thousands of hectares of productive land in valleys and coastal areas. However some farms in Jamaica have flourished in the face of adversity such as increases in the cost fertilizers.

The problems created by the plantation system continue to influence not only productivity in Jamaica, but inertia forces Jamaican farmers to continue to plant crops that are no longer profitable. The farming methods used in Jamaica should lead to some level of efficiency that should invariably improve the crop output along with other factors.

Most Jamaican industrialists saw the answer to improving their conditions by turning to industry. Puerto Rico in this endeavor has been fairly successful. Within the Caricom states, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana were classified as More Developed Countries (M.D.Cs). The other territories were given special concessions to allow them to develop industries. This experiment has not been successful, as agriculture and tourism continue to dominate their economies.

Perhaps the biggest challenge that the Jamaican government faces today, is how to control their quickly growing populations and provide adequate jobs for people with rising expectations. A review of the ways in which people make a, living in Jamaica and relate activities to resources — both human and physical. One major aspect is research and development to improve on what already exists such as improving the farming techniques or systems used in Jamaica.

If Jamaica is to emerge as developed countries then the government must have an understanding of their region and its difficulties, thus helping to foster closer ties both social and economic.