Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Dr Chris Tufton held several high-level meetings in Washington, DC, over the last week to drum up support for his agriculture restructuring and modernisation programme.

Tufton, who was on a five-day visit to the United States capital, courtesy of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), met with representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the World Bank, the Organisation of American States (OAS), the United States Department of Agriculture, the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and USAID, the agriculture minister also hosted a Diaspora town hall meeting at the Jamaican embassy in the capital.

Secured agreements

Tufton used his visit to give an update to the Washington stakeholders on the state of Jamaican agriculture and the Jamaican government's plans and programmes being pursued to improve production and productivity levels in the sector.

"I used the opportunity to sensitise our critical partners in Washington on how we intend to advance Jamaica's agriculture sector with particular focus on productivity gains and value-added activities. We were also able to secure a number of agreements with our partners in support of these efforts," Tufton said.

Among the issues discussed, include a joint project on a parametric agriculture insurance scheme being pursued by the Jamaican Government, the World Bank and the IADB. A parametric insurance scheme is an index-based insurance model which would allow farmers to work with the Government and insurance companies to provide weather-risk protection for the agriculture sector. Two studies have already been completed on the regulatory and operational elements of the proposed scheme and a pilot is currently being developed for Portland and St Elizabeth, with the results to influence a full role out across the country. The project is being financed by the World Bank and IADB.

Other decisions and/or activities coming out of the minister's recent overseas travel

Held discussions with the World Bank and IADB on a programme designed to establish traceability in the country's livestock trade through an animal identification and traceability system, supported by a restructuring to consolidate abattoirs and slaughter houses. This process has already started with the Government last year completing a study and discussions with IADB on abattoirs and the tagging of livestock.

On the efforts of the Government to divest Wallenford coffee and restructure the cocoa industry, the agriculture minister secured financial and technical support from USAID for the restructuring of the cocoa industry, which includes a separation of the regulatory and commercial functions and divestment of the commercial activities of the industry.

Held meetings with several high-level technocrats of USAID and the WCF, including large American marketing companies, Mars and Hershey, and signed a memorandum of understanding with USAID and WCF for collaboration of efforts to restructure the sector and to support cocoa farmers and seek external private sector partnerships to enhance the local value chain for Jamaican cocoa products.

USAID has agreed to fund a project manager to work with the divestment team appointed earlier this year by Tufton to prepare Wallenford coffee for divestment. USAID has also agreed to provide technical and financial support for the development of marketing capacity within the ministry, in support of the Government's thrust to establish stronger linkages between farmers and markets. A team of consultants, sponsored by USAID, are expected in the island next week to begin work on a term of reference for work to begin.

Met with the secretary general of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, and discussed the challenges being confronted by small developing states within the Caribbean in enhancing their agricultural sector since the World Trade Organisation's market liberalisation thrust, fallout of traditional markets in Europe and the most recent global crisis. Tufton urged the OAS secretary general to formally examine the challenges currently being faced by its smaller member states as a result of the global crisis, and structure a programme to support economic diversification as a means of securing the democratic traditions of these economies.