– 7,800 farmers to establish 45 model farms
By Vanessa James
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Thousands of farmers will benefit from training under the USD 50 million Green Climate Fund (GCF) grant, says minister of agriculture, fisheries and mining, Floyd Green; noting that the grant is the largest to any Caribbean country from the GCF, the minister said that the funds will be used over the next five years to advance the local agricultural sector.
“We want to train under the programme about 7,800 farmers, and part of what we want to do is to establish 45 model farms,” said minister Green, addressing a recent graduation ceremony for 73 cocoa farmers from the Frosty Pod Disease Management Farmer Field School at St. Jude’s Anglican Church in Stony Hill, St Andrew.
The minister said that the model farms will be used as demonstrations for farmers in agricultural best practices.
“[It] is one thing when you tell a farmer what to do, but when a farmer can see it being done it creates a much better impact… and that farmer is willing to adjust quicker when they see that what you are telling them can work,” he pointed out. The training will also focus on business planning, financial literacy and proper documentation.
“Remember now this thing is a business. It’s not a hobby, and I know a lot of you do it out of love, but you have to be making some money, and what we have found is that when you teach the farmers financial literacy and have them start doing the record keeping, they actually start to expand their enterprise.”
Minister Green urged the graduates to take advantage of training provided through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). He said that the training is often more beneficial than the physical inputs that the agency provides.
“I need more farmers to talk about training because as much as input is important, when you are trained, it values way more than one or two bags of fertiliser,” minister Green contended. He advised RADA to enhance its training to get more farmers certified, especially in climate-smart practices.
“We know the realities that you face as farmers and you can’t say that the climate has changed but you are [still] doing the same practices that you have done for the last 30, 40 years,” minister Green pointed out. The RADA Farmer Field School, direct beneficiaries of training, are able to pass on information and best practices to their counterparts.