| |
The agricultural sector’s
contribution to GDP was about 3% in 2004, of which
the fishing sub-sector was the most significant in
terms of foreign exchange earnings and employment.
Food imports are relatively high, estimated at over
US$300 million per year. This imbalance in trade
puts pressure on the Balance of Payments. The sector
employs about 5% of the labour force. The main
agriculture products are citrus, vegetables and
poultry. Tourism however is the major economic
activity, contributing about 40 % to GDP and employs
an estimated 50, 000 persons. Government of the
Bahamas owns about ninety (90%) percent of the
agricultural land. Most of the food consumed is
imported.
The agriculture sector is challenged to produce
in a situation in which banks and other lending
agencies are not willing to fund agricultural
projects, particularly since it is deemed as high
risk due to frequent damages from storm and
hurricanes, as well as market related phenomena.
Lack of secured land tenure, as it relates to
collateral for securing loans, further accounts for
the low level of investments in the sector.
Additionally, despite having access to land, most
lessees are constrained to find funding to support
their projects because the lease document is not
widely accepted by the commercial banking sector in
order to secure financing. There are also no
financial mechanisms such as insurance to support
rehabilitation in the event of a natural disaster
Other challenges faced by the sector include a
shortage of skilled personnel in both the
agriculture and fisheries sectors to deal with a
variety of critical issues that include agricultural
biodiversity research and management, participation
and implementation of international agreements and
sustainable management of the natural and marine
resources as well as implementation of policies,
strategies and programmes.
The government envisions that improvements and
opportunities for the sector can be met through
reforms in land tenure; application of appropriate
incentives; investments in post harvest storage,
processing and packaging facilities; improvements in
productivity; better management of resources,
particularly, water; introduction of labour-saving
equipment; and machinery; improved support services;
strengthening of the policy framework; better use of
information technology and organization of producers
in the sector. The state also sees the need for the
creation of an enabling macroeconomic environment
and incentives to diversify the existing harvesting
methods and environmental management of the
fisheries sub-sector.
Overall, the Bahamas will require technical and
financial assistance to strengthen its institutional
framework specifically in the areas of capacity
building; credit programmes; policy and analytical
framework for fisheries; food safety and curricula
development for agriculture and marine science.
Support is also required for the formation of farmer
and fisher groups and associations and for resource
and environmental management, particularly in the
areas of capacity building for the development of
community management initiatives and for sustainable
management of the agricultural environment,
particularly ground water, agro chemicals and buffer
areas. Assistance in policy formulation and natural
disaster management mitigation and recovery plans
are also important. In furthering its agricultural
development agenda, the Bahamas stands to benefit
from regional, hemispheric and international and
partnerships with the CARICOM led Jagdeo Initiative,
the Caribbean Fisheries Regional Mechanism (CRFM),
the UN FAO-led National Medium Term Investment
Profiles (NMTIP), the Summit of the Americas
Agriculture Agenda 2015 and the UN Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), especially Goals 1, 3, 7
and Goals 8.
_________________________
1 Extracted from the National
Medium Term Priority Framework for FAO Assistance –
the Bahamas Draft document, 2006. |
