BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THERE are great sources of income for farmers, but they can only tap into them if they run their farms as businesses and seek new markets while gaining a greater share of the value chain.
These were the sentiments of Vincentian Jethro Greene, Chief Coordinator of the Caribbean Farmers’ Network (CAFAN) and representative of the Eastern Caribbean Trading Agriculture and Development Organization in addressing local farmers in his most-recent visit to the Federation.
Greene, after making farm visits around the island on Monday (Apr. 5), addressed a group of farmers at a special seminar organized by the St. Kitts Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd. on Tuesday (Apr. 6).
He said he is very impressed with the potential for sustainable agricultural development, but urged farmers to rise to the challenge. Against a backdrop of an “impending food crisis”, a push for healthy lifestyles and government’s talks of food security, Greene indicated that farmers have a lot in their favour.
“For many years, we have had an image of farmers being portrayed throughout the Caribbean as last class citizens in the business world. And for many years, agriculture was put on the back burner... and for many years, farmers have been complaining and doing nothing.
“So, I came here to challenge the St. Kitts farmers to not just sit down and accept the menial thing that has been dished out to farmers...but to upgrade themselves to a sophisticated level where they can...build businesses that can make money for their farmers through organized and planned systems of production and marketing,” Greene stated.
The CAFAN official told the farmers to be wary of political interference and called upon them to unite in order to mitigate some of the challenges that small farmers are faced with. Greene acknowledged that many of the local farmers are open to new business ideas in agriculture and encouraged them to “make this thing viable” by learning from the successes and mistakes of farmers throughout the region.
“For too long, we have let the Ministry of Agriculture run things for us. You are farmers, you are business people. That’s your vested interest and so you must take a lead and they should support you once you take that lead. If we have to get this business and run it properly, we have to do things for ourselves. Get the family involved in the farming... and turn it into a successful, viable business,” he added.
The way forward for local farmers is hopeful, according to Greene, and if they can improve their standard while consistently producing a large quantity of high-quality food, then they can approach hotels and even tap into regional markets. He even called for the building of farmers markets in all CAFAN member islands to eliminate the middle man from the value chain.
Emanating from this visit and the series of meetings held, the St. Kitts Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd. is expected to produce a plan of action for its members to be aligned with the regional agricultural effort.
