1
Clay Chastain
Dr.Hill
COMM 3322
2May 2008
Belizean Agricultural Dependence
Belize, a country situated between Mexico and Guatemala on the Caribbean side of Central America, is rich in natural resources and fosters a unique and diverse cultural background. Although much of the region has been prone to political instability, internal conflicts, environmental concerns, the small country of Belize has had the fortune of being a relatively stable and prosperous country. Despite this, issues involving the concerns for equalized labor rights, the dependency upon rural agriculture and mining, and the lack of knowledge among the farming community of Belize are prominent within the country. These problems limit the ability of the country to interact successfully on an international level, but also work to the detriment of the citizens’ overall status of wellbeing. Fortunately, there are a number of steps involving education and information availabilitythat can be implemented in order to overcome these obstacles and aid Belize in becoming a more influential power in the Caribbean and South American economies, as well as improving the living and working conditions of the rural population of the country.
However, before analyzing the problem and its solutions, it is important to address the philosophical outlook of change within the Belizean power structure. That is, the choice is between a relativist philosophy where each culture is judged based only on itself or taking a “progressive” Western philosophy where implementing Westernized values and culture is a primary method of change. Regardless of the choice, both of these philosophies aim to improve the living conditions of Belizean residents. However, it is important to determine whether or not the philosophies are morally sound and practical to be implemented in the rural community. It is a critical aspect of attempting any change in determining this implementation technique. Because of this, it seems that a mixture of the two philosophies must be combined in order to achieve any sense of progress within the country.
Because it is essentially impossible to remove the bias of capitalist consumer culture and American society in the United States, adopting a mixture of the two extremes seems to be an agreeable method. The idea behind the combination is to minimally integrate the American culture while still attempting to produce change in the community that will be practical and essential to creating a positive sense of empowerment within the population. An example of this implementation would be giving the residents of the country the means, or rather the knowledge, to complete a task without overly focusing on the common conceptions of United States’ society, such as the ability to make change within a community in a short amount of time through strict activism. It seems to be impractical to raise activist complaints against a government which may be inclined to react in a militaristic or overtly hostile way. So, it would be a reasonable compromise to suggest a solution to problems which support the government in such a way that the economy would benefit to appease the desires of the officials as well as empowering the community to make positive change that would improve the impoverished lifestyles in the long term.
With this in mind, the essential problem that is plaguing the country must be explained and addressed. While Belize has a strong economy and a rich history of cultural diversity, the issue of rural economic dependence is a huge problem in this society because the country “... has an open, private sector-led economy based primarily on export agriculture” (Country Commercial Guide 4). Agriculture, which makes up the bulk of the economic export, is traditionally tied with low incomes and poor educations. These factors do not support the progressive movement for change in Belize into a strong South American power because it lacks the stable outlook for the country in the future.
Despite“...Belize's relatively high per capita income, its small economy has difficulty generating sufficient capital and investment for infrastructure development” (Country Commercial Guide 11). Even though Belize has a seemingly well developed infrastructure and is just behind countries such as Costa Rica and Mexico, the country is in a distinct competitive disadvantage. Its position in the world market remains focused on agricultural and mining industries, specifically in terms its of “citrus, sugar, banana and fisheries industries” (Country Commercial Guide 7). Due to this, Belize is locked into a cycle that forces the country to continue to support agricultural production.
Unfortunately, Belize remains a country that has not been able to adapt to the social and industrial trends of urban lifestyles for a variety of reasons. Its focus on agriculture, which consists of“19.5 percent of [the] total GDP” (Country Commercial Guide 7) and, in turn, the dependency upon seasonal cash crops makes the economy focused on this singular factor which negatively influences service industries and the development of urban areas.
Belize’s strict stance on pro-agricultural movements provides a significant portion of the country’s economic power in the global community. In fact, much of Belize’sagricultural productsare shipped to the United States and the UK for resell. In contrast to other Central American countries, “international transportation is relatively good” (Country Commercial Guide 11). Because of this, Belize is dependent upon these economies to support the country and, in turn, a reciprocal cycle is created in the industry.
The poor state of the economy in the country is not based solely upon the resources of the geographic region, but rather because of the lack of education within the international system. Since “[m]ost of the unskilled or semi-skilled workers in commercial agriculture are recent immigrants or migrant workers from neighboring Spanish-speaking countries” (Country Commercial Guide 32), the state of education is poor at best. These neighboring countries have high amounts of illiteracy and the general lack of education does not support the advancement of Belize in relative terms. It is estimated that in 2000, the adult illiteracy rate [in Guatemala] was estimated at 31.3%” (Guatemala Education). This serves as a huge disadvantage for the improvement of education conditions in rural Belize society where agriculture and its workersare the primary industry of many communities, including the large amount offoreign employees.
Much of the economy of the country is focused upon agriculture; the extent to which this is prominent has actually created a shortage of urban-class workers to fill jobs in this sector. “As of a report in 1996, Belize is experiencing a shortage of service-based urban jobs and a surplus of work in agriculture, though many government leaders have promised to help balance the job crisis arising in the country” (Chastain 7). The economy, while continuing to grow progressively, does not have the necessary means to support and aid the shift of the country to a service-based urban sector. As the government continues to support agriculture-based industries, the urban sector will continue to be neglected in the country’s transition to a service economy. The necessity, however, for this type economy is crucial as “the future of Belize's agriculture sector promises to be quite turbulent, unless it finds ways to become more efficient in a highly competitive and increasingly liberalized international market” (Country Commercial Guide 7).
In terms of overall detriments, various issues include the construction of roads to facilitate the economy. In a recent US State Department report, important issues cover “large tracts of land which would be suitable for development are inaccessible due to lack of roads, and many existing roads are impassable during the rainy season” (Country Commercial Guide 11). Small issues such as these influence the lack of development and the focus of the rural economy in Belize. Many of these smaller issues can be directly linked to the failures of stopping important and more pressing issues. In particular, the lack of full road development also means a lack of a stable transportation and communication infrastructure.
With this overarching problem, the biggest obstacle is the lack of education. It is paramount to the advancement of the country that the people overcome this problem. By accomplishing an overall increase in the level of Belizean education, it will be possible to shift the focus away from agricultural communities which are restricted to specific locations that lack the up-to-date information of the Belizean political system. Many different avenues of improvement exist, but education is the most essential tool that will enable the citizens to become empowered enough to progress to a modernized standard. Through a concentratedthree part program, it is possible to gradually improve the living conditions over time for these people.
As a statistic, Belizean workers may only earn around “BZDOLS 2.00 ($1.00) per hour for agriculture and export industries” (Country Commercial Guide 32), a small percentage of the economic wealth of the country. Perhaps initiatives such as these can lead to higher pay rates as well as higher social mobility. Further, “the [various Belizean] school districts were less effective at providing satisfactory rates of education (with one rural district representing a paltry 11.5% education satisfaction rate)” (Chastain 6). The distribution of rural education is a prime example of the problems faced in the country in terms of economic dependency. Hopefully, many of these problems can be addressed by the proposed education program, however.
The first portion of theprogram is increasing government spending in education. Obviously, this initiative will be a costly endeavor which will impact the tax payers of the country. However, it is to the betterment of the country that these initiatives are made into practice. With the increase of government spending, the dependency upon rural agriculture will potentially decrease as the spread of knowledge will promote the eventual shift of ideologies to more urban-oriented mindsets. That said, one of the key areas that Belize has been attempting to expand upon is the educational sector. The overall direction of the government includes “plans to carry out ... short-term initiatives to improve the standard of living of Belizeans [including] ... eliminating poverty in rural areas [and] improving the level of primary education by building new classrooms” (Country Commercial Guide 8-9). While the short term is important, it should be an important focus to make these goals long term goals as well. As a method for increasing the productivity of the farming communities, these educational fixtures of rural communities should have a highly agriculturally orientation. Specifically, another goal of the Belizean government is “to [assist] rural communities in southern Belize to employ productive and sustainable land use systems” (Country Commercial Guide 8-9). The educational systems can integrate more instruction on these farming methods to increase overall seasonal production while diffusing general cultural ideas in the mean time.
It is a critical aspect of the rural education initiative to address these areas because it will not only increase the yield of cash crops, but it will also help diffuse ideas from urban areas to these populations. Education will serve as a means of spreading ideas and help to inform the population while helping the government to expand its annual GDP. So, it would seem that this basic expenditure would be able to recuperate funding for schools and teachers in rural communities without sacrificing the long-term value of the project. As a result of the long-term education plan, the diffusion of ideas would likely lead to a generally more educated populous, one that is able to interact with the local and regional communities and impact national events. Simple education is the first step to empowerment, even if it is a government-operated funding approach. Even if the government is less responsive to this direct approach, international organizations can aid in the creation of additional educational resources. Agencies such as “... the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the British Department for International Development provide funds for development projects in Belize[, projects which have] generally been aimed at alleviating poverty and improving public health, education and roads” (Country Commercial Guide 36). With the help of both international organizations and smaller community work, along with the power of the government, practical education seems to be goal worth pursuing.
Although the focus on education is very broad, the second phase of the reformation of the education system will help to improve specific goals regarding the improvement of the living standards of the rural community. In a distinct difference to the rest of the Central American region, Belize is a predominantly English-speaking country (Chastain 3). Belize was originally established as a trade colony, but in 1981, after years of conflict with Guatemala and the UK, the country became independent and its government was established to set the country off to a productive start (Chastain 2). Because of this, Belize stands out as an internationally relevant community due to the ease of trade relations with the international markets.
Despite this, the distribution of English speakers when progressing outward from urban centers is distinctively unbalanced. As the distance increases from these urban centers, the reliance upon Spanish and native languages increases as well, especially among Mayan populations (Language Maps of Belize). Indo-European languages are less frequently spoken on the fringes of the society, which are also correlated with the farming and mining communities. The lack of English as a primary language is truly a disadvantage to the people of these areas as they are unable to properly coordinate and communicate with civil rights groups and the local government. Although English is the official language, most immigrants speak dialects of Spanish. While the Spanish language is well known, it is important to note the frustrations between keeping an the countrybalanced while being able tocommunicate sufficiently with the international world. As an effort to correct this problem, general education will serve as a method of increasing the use of English in traditionally Spanish-speaking communities through programs, classes, and information.
The general level of education will allow for the better integration of cross-community discourse as well as discourse in urban sectors, especially those involving politics. It seems to be an easy, if not obvious, choice in terms of integrating English into the culture of these communities. While it is apparent that groups who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable may initially resist the English language, it seems likely that over time it could be integrated into standard education more thoroughly as a second language. The indigenous population will continue to converse among their own groups in their specific language while being able to simultaneously interact within an English-speaking community, especially those of the political sphere.
This process does not have to be an overnight change of educational mandate, but rather a regulated integration that will take some time. The core education, of course, will be farming and agriculturally related, but English should be promoted in such a way that the language would be spread throughout rural communities. This alone would give these groups a voice to express their opinions in politics. The empowerment results of the English language would help to insure their ability to find stable work within the city as well as lead to an overall aware lifestyle of the need to perform well in anurban, capitalist-based economy. By using farming techniques as a central tenet,it seems likely that the diffusion of the English language would occur at a much greater rate upon implementation in the community. In the case of the Caribbean Creole population, a dialect of English is already spoken (Chastain 7-8). This version of English, while distinctive, would lead to a much simpler transition to the proper political English. The Spanish-speaking portions of the community would arguably have a much more difficult time, but the goal is to gradually increase the diffusion of English instead of a direct assault on the common language norms. By being able to diffuse the use of English, the end result is ideally a community where English is used enough to be comfortable with the locals when dealing with government policies and actions.
The third phase of the program would be to increase the availability of mass media. In these communities, the rural community is completely neglected in trying to find a stable education and occupation. Perhaps a campaign to promote the distribution of these forms of media would be an efficient way to increase media participation.However, it is important to note that these goals are long term manifestations of methods to improve the communication aspect within these regions and results will likely be indirect and take a significant amount of time to produce themselves in popular culture.
Some ways of increasing the English language knowledge, along with relevant information of politics, involves the production of newspapers which would reach rural areas. This method would help to improve the information upon which communities were able to interact with each otherabout within the political sphere, as well as help to empower the readers through knowledge to make more confident and logical decisions to support the agendas of their choice. Without these movements, it would be impossible to secure the means needed for the rural community to unite into a specific whole to takecharge in the global economy of the country. The agricultural-based groups need a way to improve relations between members as well as interacting upon a global scale. By providing a regular newspaper, rural communities would have a method of expressing and understanding viewpoints, as well as gathering their community discussion into a concise from that would hopefully influence domestic law in a way relative to the personal struggles of the people within this region. Even after all this, the economic opportunity of progression to a more advanced agricultural and service-oriented country is still a viable reason to invest in these methods to helpthe community in correcting the poor educational standards. Newspapers would serve as an intermediate force between other mediums such as radio and eventually options such as television, depending on the level of advancement of the rural community. Despite the obvious risk of capital, I believe that this method would increase the popularity of rural cultural change and improve the local community as it focuses on an evolving agricultural economy. The initial investment of a newspaper that supports this type of liberation information would likely come from third-party support, but the government itself may be interested in encouraging a higher level of rural education.