BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) kicks off in the Cayman Islands under the theme ‘Investing in Agriculture’, the Federation’s Minister with Responsibility for that sector, the Hon. Eugene Hamilton, believes that private institutions need to do more to make food security sustainable.
According to the organizers of the CWA and those with responsibility for Agriculture at the CARICOM level, “it is difficult to attract capital investment in the sector” and that has been a major problem affecting agriculture in the Caribbean.
During a recent discussion with SKNVibes ahead of this week’s activities, Minister Hamilton echoed similar sentiments and pointed out that he believes there is a great need for private entities in the country "to play a more significan role" in order to develop the sector.
He stated that the development of productive crops and marketing them is critical to the overall enhancement of the food generation on St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Ministry of Agriculture is urging farmers to up their production levels in order for their produce to be sold regionally and, if possible, internationally.
Addressing farmers at a recent Awards Ceremony, Hamilton indicated that one possible market farmers should seek to have produce is in St. Maarten, which has many restaurants and their plates need to be filled on a daily basis.
To this end, he noted that the private sector should be the one to play a more integral role in assisting farmers in the sector and not have the Government playing an overarching role.
“St. Maarten has over 500 restaurants, but they have no land in which to produce food, which means they would import food to serve in those restaurants. The very fact that 500 restaurants have to be fitted, means that we can catch them and it will give us here in St. Kitts the very important foreign exchange we need,” the Minister said.
He continued: “Now, I think that is the role of the private sector to get that marketing thing going so that we can get our produce marketed regionally.”
He noted that locally funding is needed to get more farmers involved, adding that some of them are willing to get the money needed from a financial institution but many of them are not able to, and the private sector’s assistance is greatly needed at this juncture.
Further, Minister Hamilton reiterated the fact that the Federation’s farmers are now facing challenges related to climate change.
This was highlighted over the last 18-20 months when St. Kitts and Nevis’ agriculture sector was hard hit due to drought-like conditions that also affected many other islands.
Against that backdrop, the Minister opined that if the private sector partners could partner with farmers, they could produce more food from hydroponics and aquaponics.
Producing through hydroponics could be a costly venture, which he noted needs funding from private partners.
The Caribbean Week of Agriculture runs from October 24-28 and would see a number of speakers highlighting the need for investment in the sector.
According to CWA organizers, they are cognizant of the struggles facing farmers and they have moved away “from the traditional CWA Expo and create an event that would give producers the opportunity to showcase their products to both the region and the Cayman Islands ‘high value’ tourism and retail markets.”
