Jamaica's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the European Commission (EC) and the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MOU) on Monday that commits €5.9 million (J$730 million) to a programme for small farmers to grow more food.

The grant funds will be allocated over two years from the European Union's €1-billion food programme targeted at the broader African Caribbean Pacific grouping of developing nations to help them weather the global economic downturn.

FAO's input will be technical assistance to help farmers boost productivity or the yields from their fields.

Aim to increase production

The programme will set up 14 demonstration plots that will put an additional 140 hectares of root crops into production nationwide. Some 5,000 small farmers, including those who grow livestock, will be drawn into the project, which aims to increase food production by 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

"It is about capacity-building in the critical areas of developing our food security initiative," said agriculture minister Dr Christopher Tufton. "It is not aid in the traditional sense; it is about supporting the building of infrastructure."

Four greenhouses will be established to provide quality seedlings, four storage and packing facilities for use by farmers' groups and the 14 organic demonstration sites, small scale irrigation equipment and training in its application, and distribution of 2,500 tonnes of fertiliser to some producers, but at a cost.

The EU already has some €316 million or, at current exchange rates, J$40 billion of programmes under way in Jamaica, the Delegation of the European Commission office in Kingston said last week.

"By improving the quality of production among small farmers, we are guaranteeing jobs, combating increasing food prices and investing in an industry that could, in the short run, be a major income earner for the Jamaican economy," stated EC Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni, ahead of Monday's signing ceremony in Kingston.

The MOU was signed by Tufton, Mazzocchi and Dr Dunstan Campbell, the FAO representative to Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize.

business@gleanerjm.com

Left: Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni, head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Jamaica. Right: Dr Dunstan Campbell, FAO representative to Jamaica.