KINGSTON, Jamaica– The Jamaica government says it will introduce a new campaign targeting several priority areas as part of the national food security thrust.
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. said that the campaign dubbed “‘Grow Smart, Eat Smart’ will target crop production, climate-smart practices and technologies, access to finance, and advancing and expanding insurance for farmers, with a focus on praedial larceny.
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Pearnel Charles Jr
It will also facilitate the development of a National Farming Trust and the expansion of fisherfolk and farmers’ insurance. Charles said it builds upon the existing policies and programs to increase the production and consumption of local produce.
“It is also intended to… introduce innovations and technology, and advance research and development towards [improving] operations to develop and, ultimately, achieve better results. We will grow smart and eat smart,” he told legislators.
It is intended that the campaign will examine the current culture in the agriculture sector and address the gaps to promote greater collaboration and efficiency.
These include providing financing, technical training, and support for farmers, especially the youth, to take up farming as a viable business option, providing more leases for idle agriculture lands, and promoting linkages and partnerships.
“We will be focused on driving the linkages with health and updating the current food and nutrition policy to boost consumption of nutritious local foods,” the Minister informed.
Charles said that the campaign would also seek to revamp the school garden program to, among other things, introduce new technology, such as hydroponics, which will be piloted in high schools. Inputs will be provided to institutions to start gardens.
The government will also launch a Praedial Larceny Working Group, provide support for access to agriculture inputs and facilitate market-driven opportunities for farmers and fisherfolk through this campaign.
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Tax-subsidised imported foods from the U.S and E.U have destroyed and ruined Jamaica’s farming sector.
Jamaica’s once world renown Diary Production was destroyed by imported cheap power milk from the U.S. in the 1980s.
With the war in Ukraine, and the sharp increase in imported foods from the U.S. and the E.U. Jamaican farmers and the Jamaican authorities ought to use this crisis to help Jamaica become more locally grown food self-sufficient.