Farmers on Wednesday threatened to take to the streets in protest over a spiralling crisis of farm theft, accusing authorities of failing to protect the nation’s food producers despite repeated promises of action.
In a passionate interview with Barbados TODAY, President of the Fruit and Vegetable Division of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS), Peter Alleyne said while authorities continue to talk about food security, they have failed to protect the people responsible for feeding the nation.
“I do not want to do a march for the farmers, but if it comes to that… I will do it,” he said. “We as farmers need to be respected. We’re toiling every day to make things happen. I’m begging and begging, pleading – let’s have a meeting with the farmers.”
His comments come in the wake of a series of devastating crop thefts, including the recent loss of an entire quarter-acre of cantaloupes from Spencer’s, Christ Church farmer Veronica Garnes—a case that sparked public outrage after being highlighted by Barbados TODAY on Tuesday.
“She’s lost cantaloupes, she’s lost cucumbers, watermelons, cassava… all gone,” Alleyne said. “She doesn’t go all out to get rich – she got two bad knees and still out there working. But the thieves don’t care about that. And government don’t care about that either.”
He criticised the slow rollout of anti-theft measures promised under revised praedial larceny legislation, including tougher penalties, a national produce traceability system, and the use of drone surveillance. Alleyne said many of the initiatives have failed to materialise or are not working.
The Protection of Agricultural Products Act 2022 provides for fines of up to $100 000, imprisonment for five years, or both. Prior to the enactment of the legislation, the maximum fine was $5 000. Under the Act, Operation Bird’s Eye – a joint initiative between The Barbados Police Service and the Barbados Defence Force to patrol vulnerable areas and investigate reports of theft – was reactivated.
But Alleyne said the promised measures are either missing or ineffective.
“They train people to use drones to protect crops. What happen to that?” he asked. “They said we would have systems to trace produce from the buyer back to the farmer, but I haven’t seen any of that in place. All that just gone through the window.”
The crop theft protection system, designed to trace agricultural produce to its source and aid law enforcement, has yet to be enforced, according to Alleyne. In the meantime, farmers continue to suffer devastating losses.
“Everybody want to know — who is going to pay for Garnes’ water bill? Who’s going to pay for her chemicals, her fertiliser, her electricity, her phone bill – everything she put into that crop?” he asked. “That woman invested time and money, and now she’s left with nothing. Who is going to compensate her?”
Alleyne said farm theft is now so widespread that even top producers are forced to invest tens of thousands of dollars just to secure their crops.
“The leading root crop farmer in Barbados spends between $75 000 and $80 000 a year protecting his crops. And what does he get in return? Nothing,” he stressed.
He urged authorities to implement stricter regulation of produce sales and to enforce a proper traceability framework.
“If cantaloupes being grown in Barbados and turning up at markets, somebody buying them. The buyers are just as guilty. They’re thieves too,” he said. “There got to be a way to trace who selling what and where it come from. We used to have a book system where hawkers wrote down who they bought from, but that didn’t last.”
While acknowledging the strain on police resources, Alleyne insisted that farmers deserve far greater protection.
“It’s like a man breaking into your house and taking everything that matters to you. You would lose your mind. Well, the farmers are losing their heads,” he said. “If farmers ever give up and walk off the job, Barbados will have to import everything. And when the ships stop sailing, who the country going depend on? Us – the farmers. So why we’re not being protected?”
With confidence in state enforcement losing its grip, Alleyne issued another warning: “This is out of control now. The same way the monkeys out of control, the praedial larceny getting out of control too. And if the authorities don’t step in, the farmers of Barbados will step out – onto the streets.”
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
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