Despite once being touted as “the breadbasket of the Caribbean,” and recognized today as a food secure nation, many Guyanese still suffer from hunger and undernourishment. Inaccessibility to agricultural goods due to limitations of geography, poverty and other factors, has created many food insecure homes and communities across the country. As the world grapples with the questions of food, health and labour in the age of coronavirus, we must seek to also answer these for ourselves and look within for possible solutions.
In the last poverty analysis survey done in Guyana, it was reported that thirty-six percent of Guyanese live in poverty while last reported unemployment rates stood at approximately 12 percent. There is no doubt that these figures will rise exponentially during and after COVID-19. There is also little doubt that we will get through this – but if we are to come out on the other side capable of sustained survival, there should not be a return to the “norm”.
We should have at this point recognized clearly that the norm is the problem. Yet there are those waiting for a return to the ordinary, believing that the poor and the aged should die to maintain market value.
Market worship makes for a callous world that sees persons being fired and still having to contend with health concerns, steadily rising food costs, rent and utility payments.
Essential workers are seeing decreased pay and work with limited protection, yet we are being told to celebrate them. Holding employees hostage in minimum wage jobs at the risk of their health, should not see musings of their heroism but rather garner organizing support to ensure that workers are provided with hazard pay and safe working environments.
The State needs to put more effective measures in place to ensure that the vulnerable are not just left out to dry and have mechanisms in place for their survival. Food distribution, cash grants and unemployment relief are beneficial to ensuring that the struggles of the vulnerable are not exacerbated. Messages to the public can be more strategic and impactful as there is urgent need for citizen engagement on how their consumption habits can impact vulnerable populations. Educating on the impacts of panic buying and hoarding can go a long way in ensuring sustainable access to food supplies and maintenance of social distancing practices.
Those in positions of power who are critical of the ideas surrounding a welfare state should now be able to recognize the dangers of not having one. It is much more disadvantageous to continuously build one from the ground up every time a crisis hits. Hard work and dedication are meaningless in a lottery system that prioritizes profit and productivity and we cannot expect persons to keep attempting to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
There is a need for the State to exhibit clear leadership and play its full role in providing support and building necessary partnerships in the interest of nation building. Some tough calls will have to be made concerning the expansion of our extractive industries, particularly that of black gold. The way in which land is utilized needs to be reevaluated. As global food and financial systems crumble, it might be a good time for us to dust off plans for a green state not bolstered by an extractive economy.
Despite our great capacity for agricultural production and manufacturing, a relentless focus on extractive industries has now left us in a very precarious position that can quickly get disastrous if not managed. Our consumption habits will also need to be adjusted to one that is more local based. Given our heavy reliance on foreign suppliers, as other countries try to contain the virus, food prices will soar as global markets and food supply chains are disrupted.
Globalization has undoubtedly brought with it many benefits but an increasing dependence on global interconnected systems of trade now means that extreme events in one country can cripple dependent/developing countries such as ours for a long time.
More and more, countries will be resorting to beggar-thy-neighbour policies wherein exports are ramped up and imports cut down. The Caribbean will be amongst the hardest hit, but it can also be an opportunity for future developments and strengthening of regional collaboration and markets.
So while we will inevitably feel rough shocks to our way of life and things we have become accustomed to, we should as a country and region look inward and develop local agriculture and manufacturing solutions to meet the needs of our individual and collective populations. It is an opportunity to survive and rise together in unity.
