Dayton Campbell urges stronger agriculture resilience and post-harvest systems

Dr. Dayton Campbell says Jamaica’s agriculture and fisheries sectors need more than policy language to withstand climate pressure, arguing that resilience must be backed by investment in practical systems that protect production and food security.

Campbell said farmers are contending with extended dry spells, stronger hurricanes, uneven rainfall, flooding, heat pressure and heavier pest threats. Fishers, he added, are also operating in shifting marine conditions and on seas that are becoming more hazardous.

He said any serious resilience agenda should include wider irrigation access, water-harvesting systems, protected agriculture, drought-tolerant crops, better drainage, stronger hurricane-ready infrastructure, coastal production support and improved early-warning systems.

Campbell also identified post-harvest loss as one of the quickest ways to strengthen food security. He said too much locally grown produce fails to reach consumers because of weak storage, limited cold-chain capacity, inadequate processing and poor movement of goods from farms to markets.

He argued that those losses are unacceptable while farmers are being urged to produce more and shoppers continue to face high food prices. Campbell said the Government should make parish-level aggregation and distribution centres a priority, with facilities able to sort, grade, store, process and link produce to reliable buyers.

Those centres, he said, should connect farmers with schools, hospitals, hotels, supermarkets, exporters and agro-processors. He also called for better market intelligence so farmers can use timely data on demand, prices and sales opportunities when deciding what to plant.

Turning to youth in agriculture, Campbell said Jamaica must invest seriously in young people if the country is committed to the sector’s future. While supporting the goal of developing a new generation of agricultural leaders, he said the cancellation of National 4-H Achievement Day 2026 has caused genuine concern among students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders.