Proposal to Unify Agricultural Representation Under One Union

Unity is Strength: Agricultural Engineer Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Farih, who helped found the largest poultry company in the 1960s—the United Poultry Company—weighed in on the issue of fragmented agricultural representation, saying, “First, we must agree that unity is strength and fragmentation is weakness. Unfortunately, farmers are now in a state of disarray, which has negatively affected officials’ response to their demands. The problemofficials are divided over a single agricultural issue, and many of them delay resolving this issue because they do not want to satisfy one party at the expense of another, or to please one group and anger another. The second negative impact of the farmers’ and their representatives’ differences concerns the financial aspect. There are currently eight groups in the country representing farmers: the Kuwaiti Farmers Union, the Union of Agricultural Production Associations, the Al-Wafra Agricultural Association, the Abdali Agricultural Association, the Arab Al-Shorouq Livestock Association, the Poultry Association, the Fresh Milk Producers Union, and the Fishermen’s Union. These eight entities each require directors, secretaries, staff, offices, telephones, and buildings—all of which come at a high cost. Furthermore, each has its own president and members. So why don’t these eight entities come together or unite under a single umbrella to save on expenses and costs, especially since we are going through a phase where every dinar is needed for the war effort and the defense of the homeland...? Al-Fraih added that if only the issue were limited to the exorbitant expenses spent on these bodies, but it goes beyond that to pose an obstacle to farmers’ aspirations due to competition among those bodies over positions, posts, and offices. Al-Fraih emphasized, based on his communications with farmers, that the multiplicity of their representatives has not served them, but rather harmed them; therefore, at every general assembly, they demand a resolution to this issue or, at the very least, cooperation and solidarity among their representatives—to no avail. To resolve this issue, Al-Fraih proposed that all bodies representing farmers unite under the umbrella of a single federation called the Federation of Farmers and Fishermen, similar to the structure of the General Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries (a government agency), with specialized committees branching out from the proposed federation as follows: Agricultural Marketing Services Committee, Agricultural Supplies Committee, Poultry Committee to serve poultry and bird breeders, Sheep and Goat Committee to serve sheep and goat breeders, Fishermen’s Committee to serve fishermen, Fresh Milk Producers Committee to serve dairy farmers, This will enable us to reduce significant financial costs, serve farmers better and more efficiently, and help establish a strong administrative and technical apparatus that effectively contributes to the growth and development of agricultural production in the country.