By Chris Patterson
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – The ministry of agriculture, fisheries and mining will be embarking on a crop restoration and expansion programme for coffee and cocoa farmers, says portfolio minister, Floyd Green, who provided an update on the programme during the International Coffee and National Cocoa Day celebrations at Emancipation Park in St Andrew, on October 1, 2024.
“It means, we are going to be working with our farmers to innovate. What we have recognised is that we need more of our farmers to do intercropping, to look at agroforestry, to look at other short-term cash crops that can bolster their earnings with what they are getting from coffee and cocoa.”
Minister Green added that the seeds and other inputs to support the undertaking will be provided to the farmers, noting that these will boost the income of farmers; and with the changing climate, more training will be undertaken with stakeholders in the sector.
“How we plant, the practices we use, we have to change that. So, we are going to be focusing a lot more on training our cocoa and coffee farmers through JACRA (Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority), RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority), looking at best practices, pest management and climate adaptation strategies,” he noted.
The minister said the government will be providing more direct support to farmers, stating:
“We are going to provide you with more fertilisers and more chemicals. We are going to see how we can use the technology to treat with some of your labour issues. Agriculture is a science; it is not guesswork. We are going to be working with you to treat with that.”
Minister Green also informed that a drive will be undertaken, through JACRA, to provide land security for farmers in the sectors.
“We are going to do a drive through JACRA to get more cocoa and coffee farmers letters of possession, tenureship, land security, especially where you are operating on government land. This is something we have spoken about for too long; we have to fix that now,” and urged cocoa and coffee farmers to engage in more value-added offerings. “That’s how we are going to ensure that we retain more of the money.”
Technology will be used to continue driving the agricultural sector forward, says minister Green:
“We have already entered into a partnership… using block chain technologies to be able to trace from the farm, the actual farmer to the coffee itself, so wherever in the world you are, you can scan a code and you can tell that this is authentic Blue Mountain coffee, but more than that, it will allow us to tell the story of our coffee and the story of our cocoa. We are going to continue to build that out. It’s also important as we try to ensure that we are complying with the new EU directives in relation to ensuring that if you are planting coffee, you are doing it in a sustainable fashion, and in order to do that, we have to track how the coffee is planted… . It also goes for cocoa and all other commodities.”
Through the partnership, JACRA and Verified and True will be rolling out a Verified True Platform to, among other things, protect and promote agricultural commodities such as cocoa and coffee through end-to-end traceability.
Expounding on the partnership, chief technology officer, Verified and True, Chris Reckord, explained that through technology, consumers will be able to verify the authenticity of a product.
“A future where consumers can instantly verify the origins of the products they buy, ensuring that they are purchasing authentic, high quality Jamaican coffee and cocoa,” said Reckord.
On the issue of pricing, minister Green said steps are being undertaken to determine a fair market price for the crops.
“If we don’t have farmers, we won’t have an industry. If the farmers feel that they are not getting a fair price for their coffee or cocoa, they will pull out of the industry. If they pull out of the industry, we won’t have anything to celebrate, so we have to ensure that in everything that we do, fairness underpins everything that we do. Our coffee and cocoa farmers must get a fair price for their product. If they are getting a price that they can’t invest back, that they can’t take care of their families, they are going to pull out of the sector.”
“I have already said to JACRA that we need to start a process of exploring what is a fair price and we will, in the first instance, try to use moral suasion by saying to you this is what we see as a fair price, and this is what we expect to be out there, but if that is not working, we will have to take it further, but we are going to start there,” Green added. The government will continue to support farmers to ensure that there is growth is the sectors.
