Agriculture Minister Commits to Transforming Lives of Sector Stakeholders

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, has committed to redoubling the Ministry’s effort to transform the lives of Jamaicans, particularly those engaged in portfolio activities.

Speaking in a recent interview with JIS News, Minister Green said this is an exciting time for those sectors.

“I think we have to be at the heart of the growth agenda of the country. It’s about ensuring that we use robust growth to lift people out of poverty and the best place to do that is through agriculture, fisheries and mining, so we are going to redouble our efforts to do more for the people of Jamaica,” he said.

“We are going to continue our fisheries rehabilitation programme, but also a programme that gets younger fishers in the sector, distributing boats and engines to fishers under 35. We are going to do that immediately. We have already procured those, so we are going to hit the ground running in that regard,” the Minister noted.

Mr. Green said that in relation to industrial minerals and finding port facilities, “we [want to] move more of our industrial minerals.”

Meanwhile, the Minister emphasised that tackling food waste by improving storage is a major priority for safeguarding food security.

“We have said that we are going to do the biggest spend in this financial year on storage. That’s been a longstanding issue for farmers who go through their periods of glut, not being able to have somewhere…they can store. We have some great ones under construction in Essex Valley, in Kirkvine and in Coleyville, so I am looking forward to seeing those completed, opened and start serving the farmers,” the Minister said.