Fever grass initiative not stillborn

Paul H. Williams, Gleaner Writer

LAST WEEK Saturday, in a story headlined, 'Lukewarm marketing - fever grass industry suffers from lack of promotion', we wrote about the frustration that some potential fever grass farmers, and present cultivators, were having with the seeming failure of Marketech, a subsidiary of the Scientific Research Council (SRC), to promote the establishment of a Jamaican fever grass industry.

In the story, which was the second of two parts, we also said that Marketech did not proffer responses to questions sent to it after several attempts to get said responses. The SCR has since contacted The Gleaner and has "profoundly" apologised for its failure to respond in a timely manner. Subsequently, The Gleaner accepted an invitation from SCR Executive Director Dr Chadwick Anderson to further discuss the issues.

In an enlightening discussion on Wednesday with Carolyn Rose-Miller, marketing research officer; Joy Phillips, customer service officer; and Anderson, it was revealled that the frustrated parties might have misunderstood the role of Marketech in the spearheading of the establishment of the local fever grass industry. The basis of their frustration was that though a Marketech report said that there was a great demand for fever grass and its byproducts, they did not know where this demand was. In essence, they did not believe the SCR was doing enough to create a market for them.

Yet, Anderson said the SRC's role as a facilitator in the fever grass initiative is not to create markets for farmers, but to forge local and international linkages among the different stakeholders in the industry who may go to the SCR to get certain assistance, since the SCR is part of the support structure. Farmers and prospective farmers must, therefore, do their own research. They must first establish who is going to buy their crop before embarking upon its production, and the SRC is not the place where they should turn up with the fever grass. "We are not a commercial entity, we do not buy. We don't trade, we don't sell (fever grass)," Anderson said.

They are advised not to go into commercial fever grass production without developing a business plan, especially if they want funding such as a loan. And while, it seems, farmers are mainly concerned about the cultivation of the grass for sale, the SCR would like to see a take-off in the production of value-added products such as body wash, lotions, and flavoured waters. Thus, what the SRC is also doing is developing valued-added fever grass formulations, and people who are interested in the commercial production of these formulations will be sold the technology. "We are not the be-all and the end-all. We are a research technology-transfer institution," Anderson said.

The initiative to establish a local fever grass industry is alive and well, the SCR is saying, so much so that Churches Co-operative Credit Union (CCCU) Limited, in collaboration with the SRC, has a fever grass loan programme in which farmers and prospective farmers can access secured and unsecured loans of up to $35 million for a maximum of 10 years, with a one-year moratorium at a preferred interest rate.

Additional benefits

Additional benefits of the loan programme are three months free public relations and promotions support for the first 12 borrowers; beneficiaries to be participants in free CCCU entrepreneurial seminars and to obtain preferred rates for paid seminars; special invitation/guaranteed space to Churches/Jamaica Trade and Invest business workshops throughout the year; special consideration to be given to "lemon grass borrowers should they require sponsorship for related special events; featured section on Churches webpage and Facebook group for three months; and an option to serve as a spokesperson for CCCU/SRC as a loan recipient of CCCU, including participating in any media programme which tracks the borrower's business achievements and challenges.

The SCR is standing by its claim that a great demand exists for the valued-added products of fever grass. The onus then is for interested parties to find that market and seize the opportunities therein. "I believe there is a market for products to be derived from lemon grass. It is very viable and very strong. It's very alive, very well, and so we are inviting people who want to make some money, persons who are serious about production, and serious about making good returns on their investments. They need to look in this direction. The possibilities are really endless," Anderson said.

rural@gleanerjm.com