My Essay Topic: “Issues associated with the rising chicken back bill for Jamaica” According to the Jamaica Gleaner Article on November 2, 2014, “Jamaica spent almost $3 billion dollars last year to import some 70 million pounds of chicken back from the United States, as many Jamaicans continue to depend on this cheap meat for the protein in their diets”. Chicken back has a debilitating effect on our economy, the nutritional value of chicken back is low in comparison to meat products and the developed world used us as a “dumping ground” for goods imported. (The Jamaica Gleaner, 2014) jamaica-gleaner/gleaner/20141102/lead/lead6.html Chicken back is seen as poor people’s food and is mostly eaten by the lower echelon of society who is unable to purchase other parts of the chicken. Jamaica has the ability to be self -sufficient in this regards; but we choose nonetheless to import it. The nutritional value of chicken back is less than what is present in other meat. The populace has an insatiable appetite with regards to the purchasing of this commodity, because they like it, not only because its cheap. I wonder! Why are we importing chicken back? This is due primarily to the free trade and also contractual agreement that our government signed that stipulates that Jamaica would have to import products from the States for a certain period of time. Even though we are obligated to this contract by law there is still a way out of this crisis. It takes six weeks for a chicken to grow from hatchling to a full-sized and harvestable bird. It would be more beneficial to our economy and to the chicken farmers in provision of chicken back locally. The government may possibly still import chicken back from the United States, but an increase in tariff will eventually reduce the quantity that is imported. This would not infringe on the contract, however this could be an immediate resolution until there is a way out. For years it has been cited that the imbalance between exports and imports continues to be one of the primary reasons for the abject failure of the Jamaican economy. According to the Bank of Jamaica, total exports fell 51.3 per cent in 2009 following a sustained economic crisis and a contraction in demand worldwide. As exports declined, the value of imports continued to increase. For decades, Jamaica continues to run a sustained trade deficit and in order to address it the country will have to export an estimated US$3.7 billion. (EDWARDS, 2010 ) Therefore it is imperative that we stem these importations as these considerably debilitate the ability of the economy to grow. In addition to that, by doing this, our chicken farmers would be able to acquire profit thus being somewhat financially able to provide for themselves and their families. It would also be utilized as an area for job opportunities where persons who are business –minded and agriculturally driven can use this strategy in starting their own chicken farm in an aim to supply the “bulky” demand of chicken back in our country. For example, there are many persons who have their degrees, masters and other significant qualifications and are unable to get a job. Hence this is a perfect opportunity for unemployed individuals to capitalize on. Furthermore, I strongly disagree with the idea of chicken back importation due to the fact that the chicken back that is imported into Jamaica is not of a standardized value and rather considered as the “what left” or what is refused by the States that is received whenever Chicken back is purchased. The quality of the chicken back is poor, Jamaica in the eyes of these countries are treated as an enormous “dumping ground” for these unsatisfactory commodity. The government in charge of the Agricultural sector should endorse and implement in all aspect the “Eat what we grow, Grow what we eat” Campaign in an aim to regularize the quality and quality of commodity imported into the island. In concluding, the vast importation of chicken back into the country is found to be creating a strain on the country’s financial development as there is a significant depletion of our National reserves ($,US ). The government has a fundamental role to play in the decision making process in regards to commodities that should be provided within the country locally without the need for importing them. Some of the correlative measures that the government can utilize to force a reduction in the chicken back crisis involve imposing huge amount of tax on imported chicken back and regularizing the quantity of chicken back imported into the country, consequently promoting growth and development of the country’s economy.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 15:33:14 +0000
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