The Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC) and other stakeholders have analyzed the economic impacts on migration on the country. DAIC president, Kenneth Green, said Dominica is a “migrant country” that could grow its economy with migrant populations and investments.
Green explained that there is a relationship with the population of migrants in any country and the consumption of foods and materials in that country. He bemoaned the situation where there is scarcity of unskilled labourers to cultivate the lands in order to increase food productivity to cater to the rising number of immigrants. According to him, despite the fact that the weekly wages of farm labourers have increased to between $300-$400, many farmers have a problem getting people to hire – and this will impact on food productivity.
“Right now the average rate for unskilled labor has gone up yet the farmers still cannot get people who have not gone through a high school education to accept between $300-$400 a week and in many cases, cash in hand,” he said. “That is a difficult thing because you need labor to produce the very things that we eat, so it has a food security repercussion for us.”
Green postulates that less immigrants means less labourers to work the farms – leading to less food availability, and more immigrants means more farm hands to produce more food for host communities. He stated that the population of immigrants in Dominica has a direct association with economic growth and food security in the island nation.
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