Ebony Park Academy Lauded for Addressing Food Security

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has commended the Ebony Park HEART Academy in Clarendon for its proactive role in helping to address the issue of food security, which now faces not only Jamaica, but the rest of the world.
“Despite all the discussions in the media, the world is facing a crisis as it relates to feeding itself,” he said.
The Minister was delivering the keynote address at the launch of the Ebony Park HEART Academy Modified Agriculture Certification Programme, at the institution on July 16.
This protected agriculture (green house) training programme has resulted from the combined effort of the Ebony Park HEART Academy, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), USAID’s Jamaica Farmers Access to Regional Markets project (JA FARMS) and Food for the Poor.
The Minister said the initiative is an extremely well-timed one, as the agricultural sector in Jamaica is undergoing major transformation, as it seeks to address the deficiencies in the system and increase productivity among farmers.
He pointed out that there has been a significant decrease in the production of both traditional and non-traditional crops over the past 10 years, as farmers are getting less, after investing the same or greater effort. According to the Minister, production of yam has fallen by 65 per cent, while Irish potato and cabbage have fallen by 46 and 33 per cent, respectively.
Noting that the average farmer is at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, Dr. Tufton said the country now faces a major challenge in terms of how it responds to the situation, not only to improve the lot of the farmer, but also to ensure the wellbeing and welfare of Jamaicans as a whole.
The Minister said that the HEART Trust, and in particular, Ebony Park, had taken an important step in the right direction, not only by recognizing the importance of improved technology in agriculture, but also by facilitating a training programme to sensitize the rest of the society. The institution’s effort, he said, “represented the opportunities the Government is seeking to promote and provide some leadership on, and shows their commitment to making agriculture sustainable.”
“I am confident that as long as protected agriculture technology is properly implemented with good management, we could witness significant increases in domestic food crops within the next few years,” Dr. Tufton argued.
Currently, there are 70 greenhouse operators across the island, with the number set to increase by 40 units within the next year. The 40 additional units are to be established through funding obtained from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). As part of the USAID’s thrust to assist Jamaica to increase its capacity to feed itself, an official training manual was also presented to the Ministry of Agriculture.
This manual was designed by the USAID, in partnership with RADA, Ebony Park HEART Academy and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The certification programme will equip Jamaicans on how to correctly fabricate greenhouses and how to use protected horticultural and agricultural practices to respond to the evolving needs of the agricultural sector. Trainees will be instructed on plant growing environment, structure and systems, plant nutrition and fertilization, integrated pest management and crop culture.
Ebony Park HEART Academy is the top HEART Trust/NTA institution for agricultural training and certification in Jamaica. It occupies some 500 acres of land, most of which are used for agricultural purposes.