It’s a yearly occurrence, our vegetable producers having products to sell that no one wants to buy. In the world prior to “climate change,” there was a yearly glut of tomatoes, sweet peppers too, beginning in April and continuing all the way into June. Tomatoes and sweet peppers, which are actually fruits, are produced all year round, and they have been mainstay crops for Belizean farmers for many decades.
White “Irish” potato, onion, and carrot production are relatively new industries. These crops are not native to our region, and do best in the “winter” months, their cultivation window being mainly between November and February. The quality of the variety of white potato grown in Belize is exceptional for salads, but poor for chips; the quality of onions produced in Belize is equal to that of those produced anywhere; and the carrots produced in Belize are of satisfactory quality, but not equal to those grown in Mexico.
Of the five “vegetables” in this discussion, tomatoes and sweet peppers are the two with the most dramatic price fluctuations. Last year the prices of tomatoes and sweet peppers skyrocketed to levels never reached before, and at the time when such prices are usually at the lowest, in the dry season. Global warming was at its worst last year, and the record heat caused the crops to wilt in the fields. There could have been other factors that helped push the price of tomatoes and sweet peppers to all-time highs last year; what is certain is that local production was at an all-time low because of the extremely hot weather.
Farmers who cultivate tomatoes and sweet peppers are basically left to themselves by the authorities; while producers of onions, white potatoes, and carrots are heavily monitored by technical staff of the Ministry of Agriculture. There is no law that dictates when, what, and how much farmers produce; but technical staff of the Agriculture Ministry work closely with them, particularly in scheduling their production so that everyone gets a piece of the pie.
Almost annually there is news of onions, potatoes, or carrots rotting in the fields. Because these crops are subject to considerably less insect and disease pressure than tomatoes and sweet peppers and are relatively easy to grow, the temptation is always there for farmers to gamble with increased production. The crop whose producers ran into trouble this year was carrots, and the Ministry said the problem was caused by the weather—heavy rains which compressed the window for planting. With too many fields planted at the same time, there was too much crop maturing simultaneously, too much for our small market to absorb.
Some distressed farmers have charged that the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation (BMDC), an arm of the Ministry of Agriculture that issues permits to entrepreneurs to import vegetables when there is a shortage in Belize, hambog them by issuing permits when none were needed, and that the ministry had been lax in preventing contraband carrots from entering the market. The ministry denied that permits were issued, and said it does its best to contain contraband.
It was bad news last month, the report that our farmers’ carrots were rotting in the fields. But this month the story that was dismal has become very exciting. Our farmers’ perishable excess carrots have been processed into a stable healthy product, carrot juice, and it is now on shelves in grocery stores across the country. This miracle – it is a miracle for farmers who were losing their shirts watching their carrots rot – came about through the collaboration of BMDC and the owners of Silk Grass Farms (SGF).
There is an annual call from people who regularly contribute their ideas in respect to the development of Belize, for government to intervene so that our excess fruits and vegetables don’t spoil in the fields. The response from all our governments has been to leave it to private hands, leave it to the magic of the marketplace. But some systems that work well in large developed countries don’t perform as well in small, not-so-well-developed ones. We have a few success stories, but far too often entrepreneurs who tried their hand at processing have failed.
The involvement of SGF could be purely altruistic. It might be a losing proposition for them, considering our small market size. Countries with large populations will always produce goods at a cheaper price than we do, but we can’t throw up our hands. We must produce more, and government must intervene to ensure that our produce isn’t wasted, so our farmers don’t lose heart. Government must invest in equipment to process the excess fruits and vegetables produced in our country.
Hip, hip, hurrah for BMDC and SGF! They deserve it. Victory will not come to Belize until most of the foodstuff in the grocery shops are labeled, “Made in Belize”. Juicing the excess carrots is a good ending to what started out as a very bad story.
US lost goodwill points for its handling of deportees
The brief standoff between the US and Colombia because of Colombia taking exception to the way the US was reportedly handling the return of its citizens who were in the US illegally, and the subsequent US threat to Colombia that if it did not capitulate it would face tariffs that would destroy its economy, cost the US some goodwill points. Threatening to destroy the livelihood of a nation over the handling of deportees set off alarm bells.
The US is the mightiest nation in the world; no country in the Americas can stand up to it militarily, and without contest it has the right, as all countries have, to send home individuals it considers persona non grata within its borders. Receiving deportees from the US isn’t alien to any country south of the Rio Grande. Barack Obama, the most popular US president in our region since Jimmy Carter, was dubbed by some media as “Deporter in Chief”, but no one complained, because everyone understands that America has the right to control its borders.
The illegal presence within the US’s borders of many people from elsewhere in the Americas is a direct consequence of conditions at home. The US is mighty wealthy. Because of inefficient economic systems, there is abject poverty in many parts of the Americas. Speaking figuratively, the US is bottom land, and some parts of the Americas are barren, “barreal”. It is from these deprived parts that individuals flee in droves to the US. A “deportation list” published by The Punch 100% corroborates that observation.
We have our interests. There is common history between us and the US, and we have always been their allies. Per capita there might be more Belizeans living legally in the US than there are from any country south of Mexico. On the economic side, we are dependent on the US for visitors to our tourist destinations, and for investment capital. When the US economy is good, more crumbs come to Belize. There is no profit for us in seeing the US low, or disliked.
The US will carry out its business how it wants, but they would be well reminded that a horse tamed with carrots will serve its master faithfully, while one tamed with the stick will not. The US president reportedly said his country won respect through its response. No, the actions of the US government elicited fear. If the president of Colombia was tyrannical, people living in countries south of the Rio Grande would have cheered how the US made him capitulate. He isn’t, so none did.