Gov't to team up with importers and farmers to ease food shortage

With markets still reeling from the crushing blow of Hurricane Melissa, Agriculture Minister Floyd Green says the Government is moving to team up with top importers and capable local farmers to quickly push food back into the island.

"We do have people who are already participating in local production who participate in importation of things like onions. With that said, you also have to look at a couple things, you need to have a distribution system because it is important if you are going to bring in a certain amount of things... you have the ability to store it, and the ability to distribute it," he told The STAR recently.

The Minister was responding to suggestions by Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture Dr Dayton Campbell who told Parliament last week that farmers should be the first to benefit from imports to address the shortfalls in the market during recovery.

"Being practical, we all know that there has to be some level of importation to prevent famine on the land. However, in allowing the importation, the practitioners that are currently in the space should be the beneficiaries of the permits for importation," he said.

He said the egg farmers should be the ones importing eggs, and the onion farmers should also be given the chance to import onions.

But Green stressed that it's not as simple as just saying farmers should get preferential permits, emphasising that their capacity to store, distribute and having a ready market are key considerations.

Campbell also warned that the Government has to put measures in place to protect consumers from price gouging, an issue he said was observed after Hurricane Beryl last year.

Acknowledging the potential for unfair price hikes, Green said efforts will be made to ensure there is adequate importation of produce to limit this.

"While you can look at legal measures to deal with that, you also have to appreciate that a lot of it is demand and supply, and you have to ensure that there is adequate supply that guards against somebody who may want to hoard supply to drive up the price," he said.

Damage to Jamaica's agriculture and fisheries sector from Hurricane Melissa is estimated at nearly $30 billion.

The Category Five storm, tore through parishes that produce the island's largest agricultural output, with St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St James, and Hanover among the hardest hit.

Approximately 41,390 hectares of farmland were affected, leaving at least 70,000 farmers counting their losses. More than 1.25 million animals, including cattle, poultry, and small ruminants, were also lost.

Melissa's impact will result in a significant reduction in locally produced crops for the Christmas season, with about 32 hectares of vegetable lines destroyed, causing estimated damage of $8.8 billion and affecting 47,500 farmers.

An emergency recovery programme worth $450 million has been allocated to replanting, restocking, and land preparation. This forms part of a broader $3 billion plan to help the agricultural sector rebound.

- Sashana Small

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