Background

Barbados has seen a serious slow down in the products that we can export.  Given the precarious position of the economy as at the writing of this article, I would like to offer a suggestion in how we can jump start our manufacturing industry and derive a new foreign direct revenue stream for the country. Put simply? Create fabrics and threads created with sea-island cotton and hemp. 

Strategy

Barbados has its own species of sea-island cotton that is second to none.  Barbados also has a failing sugar industry where sugar outputs have been steadily falling for greater than ten years as the global demand for the commodity wanes due to health concerns.  Perhaps if we substituted hemp production in place of sugar cane production, we can provide the country with a new source of revenue with inelastic demand as posited by Barbadian, Gregg Mosely-Clarke nearly six years ago.

Sea-island cotton by itself does not generate enough revenue for the country to survive.  However by spinning hemp fibers with the sea-island cotton, we create a hybrid fabric that would inherit the strengths of each respective ingredient. A further upside is that the product would be exclusive to Barbados as it is not being used anywhere else on the clothing and textiles market.  Another positive perspective on the matter is that we can stimulate the economy with jobs for both skilled and unskilled labor.

Growing sugar cane has the unfortunate by-product of robbing the soil of many of its nutrients.  This is why farmers need to rotate crops in order to replenish the soil's productive capacity. I am suggesting that hemp be the crop used to "repair" the soil when farmers rotate away from sugar cane production.  If we used a now defunct sugar cane factory and retooled it for hemp production, the country would have an industrial solution for the handling and processing of hemp fibers without the high energy use to convert the raw material to final product, as is the case with sugar cane.  Investments in solar and wind energy can drastically lower the cost of manufacturing.

We can use our country's limited production capacity to our advantage whereby we treat the final product like silk. Even refer to the product as "Bajan Silk" due to its light cottony feel with the tensile strength of hemp.  Beyond this article, no-one is to be told of the composition of our "silk".

Economics

Without getting too detailed about the economics of fabric, it my belief that limited production can serve our country's purposes. Limited production means the product is now a luxury item which in turn attracts a high price tag. Therefore, retail the raw material (fabric and/or threads) to only premium brands (for example, Hermes, Gucci, Rihanna's "Savage" lingerie line). This creates an opportunity for these luxury brands to use our exclusive materials in their retail products. It also provides our local designers the ability to stand out on design, quality and price.  It further dovetails with the luxury image that Barbados is projecting to its tourism market.

My Government is to patent the process (or the hybrid plant's seed) and own it as a Sovereign Asset as part of the portfolio of Barbados' manufacturing state owned enterprises. Derive revenue from the export or the licensing of the product/process to private manufacturing concerns are my first level impressions on how to generate revenue.  Capturing taxation from industrial and consumer retail sectors also provides further revenue streams.

Funding to start this initiative can come from the FAO, IDB, IADB through their respective development funding programs.

Conclusion

The inclusion of hemp into Barbados' agricultural mix is wanted. It has the ability to generate sorely needed revenue and drive the economy forward. Evolve the idea further and blend hemp fibers with our sea-island cotton to create a unique product that the world has never seen or worn as yet. Derive foreign currency that can be used to sustain a subset of the Barbados manufacturing industry.

Thank you for allowing me to make my submission.

Kindest regards,

Submitted by J. Simpson