Green Climate Fund Grant to Train 7,800 Jamaican Farmers Over Five Years

Jamaica’s agriculture sector will receive a major boost under a US$50-million Green Climate Fund (GCF) grant that will put thousands of farmers through training, according to Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green.

The Minister described the award as the biggest GCF allocation ever secured by a Caribbean nation and said the money will be channelled into strengthening local farming over the next five years.

“We want to train under the programme about 7,800 farmers, and part of what we want to do is to establish 45 model farms,” he said.

Minister Green spoke at a graduation for 73 cocoa producers who completed the Frosty Pod Disease Management Farmer Field School, held at St. Jude’s Anglican Church in Stony Hill, St. Andrew.

Those model farms, he explained, will serve as living showcases of proven farming methods. “[It] is one thing when you tell a farmer what to do but when a farmer can see it being done it creates a much better impact… and that farmer is willing to adjust quicker when they see that what you are telling them can work,” he pointed out.

Instruction under the programme will also cover how to prepare business plans, manage money, and keep accurate records. “Remember now this thing is a business. It’s not a hobby and I know a lot of you do it out of love but you have to be making some money, and what we have found is that when you teach the farmers financial literacy and have them start doing the record keeping, they actually start to expand their enterprise,” he said.

He called on the graduates to make full use of courses offered by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), arguing that skills transfer often outweighs the value of tools or materials the agency distributes. “I need more farmers to talk about training because as much as input is important, when you are trained, it values way more than one or two bags of fertiliser,” he contended.

Minister Green also pressed RADA to broaden its courses so that more producers can earn certification, with particular emphasis on climate-smart methods. “We know the realities that you face as farmers and you can’t say that the climate has changed but you are [still] doing the same practices that you have done for the last 30, 40 years,” he pointed out.

He added that participants in the RADA Farmer Field School routinely share what they learn with other growers in their communities.