Formalisation Critical To Sustainability Of Agriculture Sector – Minister Green

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, says that the Government move to formalise the operations of fishers and farmers is critical in ensuring the sustainability of the agriculture sector.

He noted that, through formalisation, smallholders will be able to access essential services and resources, including credit, to grow their operations.

“You can’t build a business without access to capital and 90 per cent of the big businesses are built on borrowed capital. We need to see more of our farmers and fishers being able to walk into financial institutions and get those loans, so they can drive their business forward,” he said.

Minister Green was addressing the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) virtual Business Dialogue on March 10, under the theme ‘Agriculture Is Big Business: Beyond Crop & Catch’.

The event was held against the background of the recently announced ‘Formalising Operators in the Jamaican Agriculture & Fisheries Sector’ project, which is being undertaken through funding from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The initiative will enable 100 farmers and fisherfolk from across the island to formalise their operations through training in enterprise formalisation and capacity development.

“We are looking, at the Ministry, to change our approach to agriculture, to… focus on a market-driven, research-based sustainable sector, but we can’t do that unless every single player approaches their part as a business,” Minister Green said.

He said that this means that farmers, for example, must identify markets even before they plant the first seed.

“You also know that if you’re in fisheries you must be looking at new ways to do the things you have done for a long time. You must be doing your research, you must be analysing the sea cucumber market, you must be recognising that sea moss is fetching a great price so now you have to position your business from just catching fish into cultivation of sea moss or inland fish,” he pointed out.

“You must be thinking about sustainability to ensure that generations to come will be able to garner from your profits,” he added.

Minister of State for Industry, Investment, and Commerce, Dr. the Hon. Norman Dunn, in his remarks, said that the ‘Formalising Operators in the Jamaican Agriculture & Fisheries Sector’ project will make a difference in the lives of the beneficiaries, particularly young people and women, while enabling them to become operators of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

For his part, National Project Coordinator, Increasing Resilience and Disaster Preparedness, ILO, Resel Melville, said the initiative aims to build the knowledge and skills of participants to enable them to become more business-oriented.

The JBDC is leading the implementation of the Formalising Operators in the Jamaican Agricultural and Fisheries Sector project.

Participants will be guided through industry-specific training and hand-holding sessions on how to manage and run a business, getting their operation formalised, opening a business bank account, creating strategic business linkages, drafting a business plan, and how to access financing.

The ILO-funded project will run for a period of 11 months from January to November 2021.

The Ministries of Industry, Investment, and Commerce and Labour and Social Security, are also collaborating on the initiative.