J$1b project aims to improve market access for food producers
Published:Friday | November 19, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is moving ahead with a five-year plan to boost food exports by addressing international food-safety standards.
The project, to be financed by a US$15-million (J$1.29b) loan secured from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will be executed through Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Agro-Investment Corporation (AIC), which will work with food producers to position for greater market access.
The IDB loan is for 25 years, with a five-year grace period on repayment.
The project is aimed, among other things, at improving the quality of food production, the development of agricultural and agro-processing value chains, and increasing farmers' access to national and international markets.
Through the AIC, some grants will also be made available for production activity.
The loan funds are expected to finance the implementation of at least five pilot value-chain projects, based on public-private partnerships.
Chief technical director in the agriculture ministry, Dr Marc Panton, said one primary outcome is expected to be the improvement in market information and access.
"The programme will help us to do market analyses, not only for the local market but also to analyse and promote a sustainable presence in the international markets," he said.
"We are close to maximising local demand and so we need to look to exports."
RADA's technical capacity to offer support to producer marketing organisations is to be strengthened.
And, the issue of food quality is to be tackled, with Panton noting that Jamaica does not have a certified abattoir, and other institutions and systems which satisfy food traceability requirements, that is, meeting proper standards of foods from the farm to the dinner fork.
Some US$1.3 million of the loan will be spent on administration and support via a programme implementation unit, to be staffed with consultants throughout the five-year life of the projects.
The unit will be the focal point forcoordination of the project, planning, monitoring, financial administration and technical functions.
The larger portion of the IDB funding, US$12.7 million or 84.7 per cent of the loan, will cover direct costs for improving market access and linkages, food quality and food safety systems, as well as agribusiness value chain development.
Another US$1.8 million is committed to marketing, US$5.5 million to food safety and US$4.9 million to value chain development.
AIC too is in for some institutional strengthening, which will cost US$500,000; positioning the agency to provide services to the investor through all the stages of the investment process — from the preparation of the business plan to project implementation.
More specifically, that aspect of the funding is designed to support AIC in the setting up of the operational tools and regulations, the design of incentives and financial instruments, identification of projects and beneficiaries and creating mechanisms for evaluation and control.
Under concurrent costs, US$200,000 is dedicated to monitoring and evaluation activities, while contingencies are budgeted at US$800,000.
The loan is also intended to provide training for farmers in local and international markets; will help farmers tailor their production to meet the needs from the local hotel industry; support marketing of their products in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada; as well as support capacity building oncertification, traceability, grades, and standards.
Work is also slated to be done under the Agricultural Business Information System managed by RADA.
This component of the project will also support marketing organisations in terms of conformation with standards.
During 2008, RADA registered around 800 community farmers' groups, called PMOs, whose combined membership total about 30,000 farmers.
These groups are slated to receive technical assistance to expand their services including the improvement of storage facilities and compliance with labelling and packaging requirements.
The food safety aspect of the project aims to promote the adoption of standardised and verifiable processes that will enable farmers to meet quality and safety requirements.