$10M Relief Package for Fire-Affected Coffee Farmers in East Rural St. Andrew

Thirty-five farmers in East Rural St. Andrew who lost crops to a fire have received seedlings, fertiliser and chemicals valued at approximately $10 million.

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, handed over the inputs at the Guava Ridge Community Centre on Tuesday (Nov.10).

The package of support, provided by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA), comprised of 41,000 coffee seedlings, 241 bags of fertiliser, and 45 chemical packages.

The August 26 fire damaged over 83 acres of coffee land, impacting farmers in Halls Delight, Cinchona, Westphalia and Flamstead.

Minister Green said that the fire was a major setback for the farmers, some of whom were preparing to reap.

“A lot of the plants that we have out there have been around for many years, so when you add to all of that, something like a fire, it really causes tremendous damage,” he pointed out.

He said that the intervention from JACRA will enable the farmers to begin replanting.

“This is important,” he said, noting that the Blue Mountain coffee farmers have faced the challenges of hurricane, drought and heavy rains over the last two years.

Minister Green said that the Government is transforming how it responds to challenges in the agricultural sector and called on support agencies to reorganise their systems to ensure that assistance reaches beneficiaries faster.

“One of the things I have said to our agencies – to JACRA, to Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), is the quicker we respond, the quicker our farmers are able to recover,” he noted.

Director General of JACRA, Everett Hyatt, in his remarks, said that each farmer will receive coffee seedlings to cover one acre of land.

He noted that in Westphalia a lot of mature trees that were ready for reaping were burnt.

“When a mature tree is lost to fire, the farmer is not simply losing a tree; the farmer is losing years of investment,” he pointed out.