John Myers Jr., Coordinator
GRANT
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) Senator Norman Grant is proposing that the government launch a 75-year high yield investment bond to fund the development of the country's agricultural sector which he said needs about $6 billion to be fully revived.
Speaking at the ceremony to mark the second anniversary of 'Eat Jamaican Day' at King's House last Friday, Senator Grant noted that the government and the private sector "rather than continue investing in financial paper can invest in something that can build the production capacity of the country."
In lamenting the difficulty farmers experience in accessing loans at competitive rates, the JAS president said the bond would allow farmers, private investors and those in the diaspora to buy into agriculture which has been starved of well-needed financial support. He also reiterated his call for local financial institutions to lower interest rates on loans for the sector.
RELENTLESS EFFORT NEEDED
"We feel that there needs to be a relentless effort to take on rural development as a fundamental plan as a base for development," Senator Grant emphasised. "We feel that there needs to be a line of funding of not less than $6 billion to fund the agricultural sector to create a window of low-cost funding," he added.
But State Minister of Agriculture, Errol Ennis, while supporting the campaign to eat Jamaican produce, pointed out that the JAS should focus on identifying the crops that the country can produce "so that we can genuinely say that we are eating our own products". According to Mr. Ennis, many of the foods that Jamaicans love to eat, for example rice and peas, the mackerel that is used to make rundown, are not produced here.
In the meantime, Custos of Kingston Weeville Gordon said that farmers should be supported for the resilience they display in keeping agriculture alive. "Agriculture powers our local economy in many ways and I therefore implore our farmers and other persons involved in this sector, to take care of our delicate natural environmental resources," said the Custos who was deputising for the Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke.
The day's celebration included exhibits from various agricultural agencies, consumer product companies and schools and was well attended by students and agricultural stakeholders.
