John Myers Jr., Agriculture Coordinator
Don McGlashan (foreground), chief technical director in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, fields questions during an investment seminar organised by the ministry to promote investments in the agricultural sector at the Terra Nova Hotel yesterday. Also present were Roger Clarke (left), Minister of Agriculture and Lands and Donovan Stanberry, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands has established a $100 million venture capital loan facility to fund the development of high-yielding agricultural projects as part of an all out attempt to promote the island's agricultural sector as a viable and sustainable investment product.
Agriculture and Lands Minister, Roger Clarke, in officially launching the first in a three-part series of investment seminars yesterday at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, announced that the ministry had secured the funds "to assist investors who are prepared to come to the table with market-driven, economically viable projects..."
Mr. Clarke said that "when we do an objective assessment, our most enduring resource is our land, supported by our tropical climate and abundant water resources - all of which can form the basis of a vibrant and sustainable agricultural sector."
According to him, "Neither the tourism we glorify, nor the manufacturing sector can be sustainable without the underpinnings of a strong agricultural sector." More importantly, Mr. Clarke emphasised, was that "we have not yet found oil in Jamaica. Our bauxite reserves will be depleted in our lifetime. We have seen a serious decline in the manufacturing sector and even though tourism is now booming, it is susceptible to the vagaries of nature, as well as prevailing social
conditions."
Investment seminars
In staging the investment seminars, the Agriculture Ministry is hoping to woo private investors by identifying and outlining the
high-earning ventures within the sector as well as explaining how
available lands and funding could be accessed.
The ministry will next travel
to Mandeville, Manchester on November 1 and Negril, Westmore-land on November 3.
