Ministries of Industry, Investment & Commerce and Agriculture & Fisheries set to Launch Programme to Transition Informal Operators in Fisheries and Agriculture to the Formal Economy

The Ministries of Industry, Investment and Commerce and Agriculture and Fisheries will soon launch a programme targeted at enterprises operating informally in agriculture and fisheries to aid their transition to the formal economy.
The programme to Support the Transition to Formality in the Household Services, Agriculture and Fisheries Sectors in Jamaica, will be funded by grant funding of USD$500,000 from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) and the Rural Agriculture Development Authority (RADA) as agencies of MIIC and MOAF tasked with the provision of business development services and technical support of farmers will lead the initiative on the ground.
Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Audley Shaw has welcomed the intervention of the ILO and noted the joint commitment of MIIC and the MOAF toward ensuring the programme is successful.
Speaking at a virtual meeting with representatives of the ILO, MIIC and MOAF today, Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw thanked the ILO for its technical and financial support noting the programme “can be a major point of departure for increased productivity and wealth creation in Jamaica.”
“One of the problems with informality is that it predisposes operators to a lack of access to finance, markets, building of trade relationships as well as other resources such as technology, that can make them more productive, competitive and innovative. This project is, therefore, a significant intervention that can lead to a major transformation of the Jamaican economy,” Shaw said.
State Minister within MIIC, Hon. Dr. Norman Dunn, who represented Agriculture Minister Floyd Green, also noted the potential impact the programme will have on increasing productivity among fisherfolks and MSME farmers and echoed the ministry’s readiness to work with the ILO toward making the initiative successful.
“This project is very important, especially now in light of COVID-19, to improving trade opportunities and access to financing for these operators as they transition into the formal economy, and we look
forward to having the programme completed within the specified period,” Minister Dunn said.
Director of the ILO’s Caribbean Office, Dennis Zulu, noted the ILO’s commitment to working with Jamaica to achieve the objectives of the intervention. “We are rearing to go,” he said.
The objectives of the programme are to provide managerial capacity building, and business development support services to micro and small business operators in fisheries and agriculture to enhance their capability to comply with legal requirements, business registration, generation of formal contracts, and development of business plans in a bid to boost their transition to the formal economy, thereby improving their ability to access financing, markets, and building relationships with trade partners and in the process, enhance their productivity, innovativeness, competitiveness and internationalization.
The ILO will also provide crucial technical support through access to its enterprise and training tools and other skills development resources at its disposal, to the agencies tasked with implementing the programme.
The technical assistance and support programme aims to transform 100 registered farmers and fisherfolks into formal operators and provide business development support to improve their capability to scale-up along the enterprise development continuum.
Both ministries will work with the ILO on the preparatory aspects of the programme with a view to kick-starting the 12-month intervention by January 2021.
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