Co-Operation Encouraged Among Coffee Farmers

Chairman of the Coffee Industry Board, Howard Mitchell, has called for co-operation among coffee farmers, to enable the industry to overcome the current challenges.
Giving the main address at a meeting of the Portland Blue Mountain Coffee Farmers Association at Lynch Park in Buff Bay, Portland on June 25, Mr. Mitchell said over the past few years, the industry has suffered severely from a number of negative factors, including bad weather and mismanagement.
He said that the industry has contributed much to the Jamaican economy, and it now needs to be served with better infrastructure if it is to remain viable.
Mr. Mitchell said there is a perception that the Coffee Industry Board is responsible for everything relating to coffee production, but the organization does not have the financial resources to provide all the assistance needed by farmers.
He pointed out that the Board would be exploring the possibility of working with Japanese interests to provide some of the infrastructural support needed, including the improvement of farm roads in coffee producing communities.
The Chairman exhorted the farmers to keep their organization active and continue to lobby for improvement in the industry.
Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Western Portland, Daryl Vaz, assured the farmers that he is making every effort to ensure that farm roads in the constituency are improved as early as possible.
Mr. Vaz said he has had discussion on the matter with the Ministry of Agriculture, and he would also be approaching Japanese interests to see what assistance they could provide.