Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Pearnel Charles Jr has said that a lack of adequate storage and transportation facilities have been causing Jamaica to lose almost a third of domestic food produced annually, valued at some $7 billion.
He made the disclosure on Wednesday while handing over five vehicles, including a refrigerated truck, to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ head office at Hope Gardens in St Andrew.
Charles Jr said it was important for the island to address the post-harvest production issues to stem the massive loss – estimated to be up to 30 per cent annually – to boost the island’s food security.
In this vein, the ministry handed over a 2012 Isuzu NPR truck, valued at $12.5 million, and four off-road vehicles – two 2021 Toyota Hilux pickup and two 2022 Nissan Frontiers – to RADA this week, the first in the batch of vehicles being acquired for the agency’s parish managers.
Charles Jr expressed the hope that by boosting the inventory of vehicles and equipment as RADA moves to bolster production and tackle challenges along the value chain, food losses and wastage can be reduced.
The agriculture minister noted that for the current fiscal year, RADA will be improving its service delivery to farmers with the implementation of several new initiatives, including the introduction of express identification services, through which farmers will receive their new identification cards within five days, with renewals done within three days.
The agency will also establish a pre-registration system for farmers and develop a mobile app that will provide information on the farmers, boost record-keeping on farms and allow access to RADA guide booklets.
Farmers will be able to request farm visits from RADA officials via the app and share information regarding issues on their farms as they also access information and guidance from the RADA offices, Charles said.
He noted that the overall aim is to equip the agency to effectively carry out its mandate of providing farmer training, technical support, extension services and improving production capability.
“We always say that our policies, our programmes, our projects must be based on sensible, accurate information. RADA is recognising that. The ministry is recognising that, and we are not just talking, we are walking the walk. We are ensuring to use technology to improve efficiency and make the process for our farmers to interact with us far more fluid, cogent and easier,” he said.
“In addition, the Agricultural Business Information System is being redeveloped and re-engineered and this upgraded system is going to allow for increased efficiency in data entry and generation of reports that will inform the agency’s decision-making,” Charles pointed out.
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