Emerging Voices in ICT and agriculture - CTA Publishing

TRACKING THIEVES AND MARKET PRICES
Tyrone Hall, Jamaica, Caribbean
My main goal is to pioneer
a consultancy that specializes
in using communication
to improve development
processes with respect to
health, the environment and
rural development.
I'm an unassuming but firm emerging re sear cher
and development consultant from the Caribbean.
I grew up on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica’s
capital city. At 23 years old, I graduated with a
master’s in International Development and
Social Change from Clark University, USA. I’m
keen to integrate my training as a journalist with
my emerging expertise in development communication
and project management.
My favourite quote: “The young do not know
enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt
the impossible – and achieve it, generation after
generation.” – Paul S. Buck
My blog: http://www.ictworks.org/news/tyrone-hall
Essay summary
Dusk is approaching in the sleepy Jamaican
village of Glengoffee, and farmer Leslie
makes his usual evening rounds to check his
property. He patiently counts his cattle, scans
his crops and makes a mental note of all his
tools and other assets. The evening patrol has
become an essential ritual ever since agricultural
theft – or praedial larceny to use its technical
name – began to spiral out of control. More than
1 in 10 Jamaican farmers have been victims of
agricultural theft, losing cattle, crops and equipment
to crimes that are increasingly the work
of organised gangs.
More than one million farmers have suffered
indirect losses such as damage to crops by
intruders. Each year, an estimated J$5 billion
( 43 million) worth of crops and livestock is
stolen. Responses have ranged from hiring
security guards to installing trained guard
dogs and the government has put in place
stiffer penalties with a traceability system to
track the movement of food and animals. But
these measures can only be taken once the
theft has happened and many exasperated
producers have either been discouraged from
investing in their businesses or have given up
farming altogether.
| 12 Emering Voices in ICT and agriculture | PART 1