Don’t take our farmers for granted – Stanberry

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry says that Jamaicans should not take farmers for granted.
Mr Stanberry said that Jamaica is still a country of small farmers and that this has not changed since the plantation days.
He noted that, “agriculture has been a cinderella for a very long time in this country, apart from the large estates that command the best lands in this country, and in fact, the latest agricultural census of 2011 shows that only 75% of our farmers own 15% of all the farm lands and, with an average holding less than an acre”.
“Despite these statistics, Mr. Stanberry added, “amazingly, these are the people that continue to feed us; these are the people that ensure that we can go to the Coronation Market or to any municipal market on a weekly basis and get all our supplies.” For these reasons, he added, “ we should not take our farmers for granted”.
The Permanent Secretary, representing the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda was speaking at the rebranding ceremony of the St. Jago Farm and Hardware Supplies Limited, held at the Caymanas Golf and Country Club, St. Catherine on Wednesday, April 19.
According to the Permanent Secretary, the profile of our farmers requires that for them to succeed, they need tremendous support and in that context a robust extension service is absolutely critical and that is why the Ministry has put so much resources into the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, which commands half of the Ministry’s budget.
It is in this context, Mr Stanberry added, that it is very important that farm supply entities such as St. Jago Farm and Hardware Supplies Limited really partner with Government to supplement and complement what the Ministry was doing in bringing technology to the farmers.
“It is providing them (the farmers) with the kind of service, the kind of hand holding that they require, and the channel through which to infuse new technologies. As well as the agricultural sector is doing, and we are doing fairly well, we grew by 12% last year, the key to increasing prosperity and wealth, and improving the welfare of the farmer lies in increased productivity”, he added.
The Permanent Secretary lauded the managing director of St. Jago Farm and Hardware Supplies Limited, Mr. O’Brien Johnson and his staff on the success of his company and the rebranding of the farm store.
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