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Farmers, fisherfolk and other stakeholders in the Ministry of the Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture, and National Food Security received an opportunity on Wednesday, March 16 2022 to voice their concerns and give ideas and suggestions.

This as Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit along with the Minister for the Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security, Hon. Fidel Grant hosted an Agriculture Value Chain Stakeholder Consultation aimed at obtaining ideas on how stakeholders could partner with each other to strengthen value chain opportunities, promote food security and achieve sustainable growth in the sector.

Government has made significant investment to keep agriculture as one of the key sectors driving economic activity as the Ministry aims towards building resilience and agro diversity.

Prime Minister, Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit stated that for Dominica to move ahead and make substantial progress in the agricultural sector, there is a need to address all stakeholders.

“Based on my recurring conversations with farmers, consumers and purchasers of agricultural produce, I believe there is a wide disconnect in our general approach to production and sale. As a Government we have therefore decided on targeted interventions in the sector to assist enterprises, to source produce and connect to markets. This interventions are intended to enhance the business and entrepreneurship capacity of our farmers, fishers and small agro-processors,” Hon. Skerrit stated.

The Prime Minister went on to highlight government’s aim with this stakeholder’s consultation.

“Our objective is to bring together stakeholders at each stage of the value chain to enhance their understanding of market requirements and strengthen access to products which make it onto our supermarket shelves, t restaurants and hotels and are packaged for export. Producers, including many of you here this evening, have told us of the challenges you have faced in accessing stable and reliable markets for your agricultural produce. We also hear from purchasers at the restaurants and hotels and at our large supermarkets who cite issues related to consistency,” PM Skerrit noted.

The Prime Minister added that this indicates that there are markets available for agricultural produce but “we must be more coordinated in our efforts to match our production to the local and regional demands.”

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister stated that the many investments that have been made and continue to be made in that Ministry is evidence that this Government realizes the importance of Agriculture and continues to make it a priority. 

“As a government we have kept agriculture as a key sector and as this Government’s priority. And so we are confident of the investments that we have made and we are confident that we have created an environment that is ripe for investment. We are here to plan the next steps as we forge ahead. I want to urge our farmers that we must begin to consider technological innovations and the introduction of high tech solutions as smart greenhouses, drone and tablet technology for imagery, capturing and monitoring of data, robotics product application, as well as various water and soil management, electronic sensors, and machinery that will allow our farmers to harvest quicker and more efficiently for better results,” Hon. Grant stated.

Minister Grant called on the tech stakeholders to work collaboratively with agriculture to commercialize the sector. He urged investors to get on board with the digitally transforming world and to do what is necessary to create more investment.

“We must work together to commercialize the sector. With increasing the number of farms, more youth and private sector investments should be involved in this process as this is necessary to improve the presence both on the regional and international markets. Friends all these elements when converged will no doubt increase productivity, output, and position Dominica’s agriculture to be its most successful and to contribute even more to the national economy,” Minister Grant noted.