Industrializing Small-Scale Food Processing Reginald H. Walter Cornell University NYS Agricultural Experiment Station Department of Food Science and Technology Geneva, New York 14456 A model for industrializing the local food supply is con- structed on a partnership between government and the private sector, whereby the former limits its involvement to contribu- tions of physical resources and data collection, and the latter assumes the responsibility for management. A restrictive, sometimes uncertain raw products base precludes all but step growth from the initial product or product-class. The high cost of acquiring the processing units makes further investments of capital infeasible after the initial expenditure, except in- crements corresponding to advances in new products or product-classes. History and circumstances have conspired to perpetuate the Caribbean region's status as a net consumer of resources. With reference to the food industry, pressures exerted by foreign ex- ports into the states and territories continue to exacerbate the north-to-south disproportion. Modern concepts of food produc- tion will increase these pressures, as corporate capital and advanc- ed technology converge on "total environment systems" (Mulcahy, 1984), in anticipation of greater economies of produc- tion time and cost. Regional food production mechanisms are still quite common- ly a vestige of past mercantilism, whereby processing and fabrica- tion were activities expatriated from the Caribbean production centers. Indigenous scientific research was a necessary minimum. Not surprisingly, therefore, many transplanted technologies subsequently failed (in under-developed countries), without hav- ing had the opportunity to augment the local manufacturing ef- fort (Kassapu, 1979). Food production in the developing countries as a whole in- creased only 0.2% a year, on aper capital basis, between 1961 and 1980 (Mellor and Adams, 1984). There are structural reasons for this lack of growth in the Caribbean. For example, frequently governments' allocation of public funds to agriculture has not been commensurate with the real cost of implementing and com- pleting programs. Their often outdated and overcentralized in- volvement may also be a contributing cause of stagnation and failure, especially when popular participation is effectively barred (McCallum, 1980). Food production, notably fruit and vegetable culture, in most of the region is generally confined to the primary activities of a helter-skelter peasantry who have little interest in, allegiance to, or knowledge of agriculture as a business. Their associations and cooperatives have traditionally protected narrow interests, and comprehensive planning has thus largely remained a bureaucratic exercise by ministries of agriculture. Given the small scale of pro- jects and the limited access to finance and technology, an in- dustrialized food supply will necessitate a revision of strategy in order to expand the operational base and supplement and com- plement the singular assets of each interest group. In this presentation, a model of cooperation in food manufac- turing is proposed between government, private interests and small-scale producers. The model has the objective of harmoniz- ing divergent, sometimes conflicting perspectives, and thereby optimizing production, processing, storage and distribution of food commodities. VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY DISCUSSION The primary production of food is already a fait accompli. Revisionism needs now to focus more on the secondary stage (fabrication), beginning with the processing of these raw materials. The new strategy should be underlain by two prin- ciples, viz., (1) local ownership and management of the total pro- duction apparatus, and (2) exemption of technological criteria from political manipulation. First Principle Nationals cannot "move on" in stressful times, because they have nowhere else to go. Consequently, their only option is to persist and succeed, notwithstanding environmental and cultural impediments. Second Principle Industrialization is universally predicated on technological adaptation, which in turn is predicated on objective analyses. In a subjective, political climate, factual data are not dispassionately evaluated. For these reasons, it is mandatory that technology and politics be distanced at opposite poles in a non-exclusionary food administration. Supplementation and Complementation of Functions Food production in most Caribbean states and territories is a joint venture between government, the private sector and the banking community, among whom complementary virtues are equally distributed (Fig. 1). For example, government, the custo- dian of the people's land, leases parcels to the providers of labor in the private sector, who then proceed to a bank for funding. Neither by itself can successfully produce, harvest and market foodstuff. The perspective of each sub-sector is different, the first being equity instead of efficiency, the second being individual and family rather than national sustenance, and the third being stockholders' earnings, not a national economy. On the basis of a common mandate, i.e., accountability for the nation's food sup- ply, these separate interests may be integrated into a single entity exclusively focused on the most economical means of food pro- duction, processing, conservation and distribution in the national interest. The organizational arrangement outlined distributes responsibilities and authority in a way that avoids conflicts be- tween otherwise divergent vistas. 305