ST Mary farmers will benefit from an upgraded facility, which will improve the sustainability of their crops and prepare them for export.

Within four months a group of 90 farmers of the St Mary Multipurpose Cooperative (SMMC) will have storage facilities which include two 40-foot containers to separate ethylene (ripe) crops from non-ethylene (green), that are retrofitted to provide cold storage capacity of 141.5 cubic metres. Installation will start this month.

Ethylene is a gaseous plant hormone that promotes the ripening in crops such as apples, bananas and tomatoes.

Currently, the SMMC operates from a centrally located facility on 10.5 acres of land, which provides ease of access to farmers in and around the parish.

However, the sustainability of the operation is threatened because of a lack of cold storage (refrigerated) facilities to store perishable crops after they are harvested and before they are prepared for the market. In addition, there isn’t a dry storage capacity to facilitate purchasing in large quantities.

There is also no grading and packing facility for quality assurance.

The cooperative does not have the requisite capital to carry out the enhancements needed; neither do they have sufficient collateral to secure loan financing from financial institutions.

As such, a $24-million dollar investment made by the World Bank-funded Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) will do the job. This includes funds from the Government of Jamaica as well as community contributions.

It means improved quality crops for the suppliers, a guaranteed income for farmers and fresher products for the consumer.

The farmers operate on a “just in time” delivery system whereby farmers must deliver the produce at the same time that they will be sold in order to guarantee freshness upon arrival at market, said Stephannie Hutchinson-Ffrench, project manager for REDI.

“As a result, the workers often have to work late into the night to ensure that the produce will reach the markets early in the mornings (before it gets hot) at the desired quality freshness,” she said.

The farmers also face loss of income during periods of glut in the absence of cold storage to store surplus production.

Scarlette Gillings, managing director of JSIF, said that the organisation has lost markets and still faces the real risk of losing additional buyers who pay premium prices for crops, particularly highly perishable produce because of limited cold storage facilities.

“They have been forced to give up markets for cabbage (3,500 pounds per week) and lettuce (1,500 pounds per week) because they were unable to meet the delivery quality conditions demanded by one high-end supermarket chain in Kingston,” she said.

Furthermore, they lost a market for cabbage, lettuce and tomato with a purveyor because of the lack of cold storage facilities, she added.

The project will also see the installation and retrofitting of one 40-ft. container to provide dry storage capacity. There will be a secured processing area as well as a 1,000 -gallon plastic water storage tank with pump.

This investment will lead to a 30 per cent increase in the monthly average of goods traded and an attendant 30 per cent increase in average monthly sales by the end of the first year.

Hutchinson-Ffrench stated: “Based on information contained in a business plan commissioned by JSIF (November 2011), the project is deemed economically feasible.

“Projections indicate Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 12.45 per cent and Net Present Value (NPV) of $26.94 million. Annual net income from years two through 10 is projected at $5.8 million,” she said.

Crops are supplied to the Cooperative, which supplies the fresh fruits and vegetables to five agro- processors; three hospitals in the North Eastern Regional Health Authority (NERHA); two large supermarket chains; four restaurants; two green grocers and local higglers.

Among the produce now supplied by the SMMC are pumpkin, tomato, bell pepper, hot pepper, cabbage, lettuce, green and ripe banana, carrot, cantaloupe, papaya and callaloo.

The cooperative is unable to seek new markets such as the export sector and will definitely not be able to penetrate markets in the United States because of the inadequate infrastructure.

But the intervention by JSIF through the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) will prepare them to get certification under the US Food Safety, and Modernisation Act (FSMA), qualifying members to enter a lucrative export market with their goods.

The Act prohibits unsafe and uncertified products from entering the US.

A market in Miami for hot peppers and papaya has already been identified by the Cooperative, which is currently being supplied through two exporters.

SMMC intends to supply directly to this and other export markets once the facility is completed and certified.

It projects to sell a minimum of 40 per cent of total produce to overseas markets within the first year of implementation of this project.

Additionally, provision of office equipment will include: a desktop computer and one multipurpose machine to print, copy and fax documents.

Capacity-building training, organisational strengthening, business management and good manufacturing practices are other inputs of the REDI project.

The project development objective of the REDI is to increase market access for rural producers, and the reach of the project will ensure that it benefits a wide cross section of those persons targeted by the initiative.