KINGSTON, Jamaica--Over the last six months, close to 100 farmers have been trained in a series of consultations aimed at providing technical support under the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ginger value chain programme.
The programme, which is in collaboration with the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), seeks to revive the country’s ginger sector by improving production and looking into secondary ginger products for local and international consumption.
Public and private sector partners were also part of the consultations.
According to a release from the local FAO office, this process applies a public-private partnership approach and supports Jamaica’s economic growth strategy, which highlighted ginger as one of several crops considered to have high potential for contributing to commercial development.
The training sessions have focused on mainstreaming the value chain process, which includes all stakeholders such as farmers, buyers and processors involved from “farm to fork.”
Based on the technical input of FAO consultants Martine Raine and Cordia Thompson, field research has been completed, and training and development sessions, as well as stakeholder feedback around the strategic findings and the proposed future strategy for Jamaica’s ginger sector have been conducted. The consultants also highlighted that the interventions, to date, are important inputs to the Government’s strategy to revive the sector.
They also noted that, so far, the measures are aimed at the creation of the Ginger Value Chain Committee, which will be steeped in public and private sector partnership. While this committee is expected to be established by the end of 2017, several project activities have already been completed and initiated, including awareness and training courses in the value chain approach and how to institutionalise it within the Ministry.
Additionally, there has been a value chain analysis and upgrading strategy planning exercise, and the development of clean planting material as well as the current plant propagation component, which is well under way at the Bodles Agricultural Research Station in St. Catherine.
The FAO stated that there are also plans to renovate existing greenhouses to further support the growth of a more robust ginger value chain sector. In considering the prospects for the Jamaican ginger value chain programme, FAO has referenced experiences from other countries such as Fiji, Costa Rica and Thailand. The pineapple value chain in Dominica and Irish potato value chain in Jamaica have also been noted as successful approaches to value chain development.
When fully implemented, the GOJ/FAO ginger value chain programme is expected to help to improve ginger production, tap into existing market opportunities for ginger farmers and new ginger products, and increase opportunities/innovations for agro-processors. ~ Jamaica Observer ~
