Farming leader wants seat at event planning table to boost readiness

The Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul has urged for a more collaborative and strategic approach to planning major events like the T20 Cricket World Cup.

The tournament is expected to draw over 20 000 visitors to Barbados for eight matches and the final on June 29.

Paul’s call underscored the importance of having a seat at the planning table and ensuring that the unique challenges and timelines inherent in food production are considered.

While insisting that the short duration of the tournament’s Barbados leg would not significantly strain agricultural production, Paul urged proper preparation and cross-sectoral dialogues to optimise benefits across industries.

“The World Cup is only ten contact days for Barbados… not a whole month. The amount of production that is required to satisfy that demand would not be an issue,” he said, clarifying the actual demand period associated with the event.

Paul expressed concerns about the undue pressure often placed on farmers during such events due to a lack of foresight and strategic alignment.

“I really think that sometimes we try to put pressure on the farming community unnecessarily when these events come around, and I would like to see in the future, certainly, a much more strategic approach be adopted when planning these events,” he told Barbados TODAY.

Paul suggested that major events are sometimes planned in a manner that appears to catch farmers off guard, leading to assumptions that the agricultural sector cannot perform and justifying unnecessary imports. “You have people who want to use the World Cup as justification for the import of commodities, which I think is not something that we should embrace,” he said.

Highlighting the need for a holistic approach, the BAS CEO called for a national dialogue to identify and track major events annually. This would allow the agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing sectors to position themselves systematically to capitalise on such opportunities, he said.

Paul criticised the practice of last-minute event announcements and the subsequent scramble to mobilise resources, which fails to consider the lead times necessary in agriculture.

“You have people out there making plans in isolation,” he said. “They do not tell you anything until a few weeks or months before the event and expect you all of a sudden to put everything in place. This is not like taking commodities off a shelf in a supermarket, and I really want some private sector and government officials to understand that.”

Paul cited the example of poultry production, noting that it takes 14 weeks from hatching an egg to reaching the table.

The farming advocate also slammed an “insensitive bureaucracy” within the country that lacks understanding of the agricultural production cycle. “You usually have these short-term planning horizons that do not fit with the normal agricultural production cycle, and that is the problem we face,” he said, urging both the private sector and government officials to recognise the lead time required for scaling up agricultural capacity.

Paul’s call for better coordination and dialogue between sectors follows concerns raised by other industries. Tourism operators have previously highlighted the importance of leveraging major events to showcase Barbadian products and cuisine to international visitors. Manufacturers have also called for increased collaboration to identify opportunities for domestic sourcing of inputs and promotion of domestically-made goods during high-profile events.