Report on Rationalisation of Sugar Lands Completed

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the report on the rationalisation of sugar lands has been completed.

The rationalisation initiative will see some sugar-cane lands being utilised for the growing of other crops, providing new investment opportunities for farmers.

Minister Shaw said he has already received hundreds of applications for the production of mango orchards, castor beans for castor oil, Jamaican Sea Island Cotton, among others.

“Now, we have Jamaican investors, who are willing to work in a mother farm relationship to produce things that are in high demand, not just in Jamaica, but also in the region and globally,” he pointed out.

Mr. Shaw was speaking at the Jamaica Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (JAIFA) motivational seminar, dubbed ‘Blast Off 2019’ on Tuesday (January 8) at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.

He said that CARICOM, the Jamaican diaspora, the school-feeding programme and hotel chains are being targeted under the initiative.

An online platform, Tourism Agri-linkages Exchange Project (ALEX) will be utilised to facilitate the purchase and exchange of goods between farmers and buyers within the local hotel industry.

“We have started the process and have established a tourism linkages committee. We established a network to link opportunities between small farmers with the demand of hotels,” Minister Shaw said.

Blast Off 2019 was held under the theme ‘It is in giving that we receive’.

JAIFA is an 800-member professional association for sales representatives of life insurance companies, brokerages, bank assurers and agencies across the country.