THE Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) will showcase three innovations from ventures it has funded at the 63rd Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food show this year.

On display at the DBJ’s two-storey booth will be the Sorrel Harvesting Machine, an electronic farm monitoring system, and the H2-Flex Hydrogen Generator. This generator turns water into hydrogen gas on demand to provide high quality, inexpensive and clean energy for all types of internal combustion engines, including hybrid and electric vehicles.

The businesses behind these inventions have all benefited from grants and training from the DBJ, according to a recent news release.

“Denbigh is the perfect place for us to promote our rich relationship with the farming industry,” said DBJ Managing Director Milverton Reynolds, in the news release.

“It also puts us directly in touch with an important part of our target market,” he said.

The bank will also display products of other farmers and entrepreneurs who have benefited from its financial support. These will include canned ackee, tomatoes and peppers, as well as bottled water and paper products made by Jamaican companies.

The DBJ’s support for farmers comes most often in attractive loans to boost crop and livestock production, build infrastructure and buy and repair farm vehicles and equipment.

The DBJ’s Strategic Services Division also offers farmers and other micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) training in managing their businesses and creating capacity for growth.

With the sorrel machine, the DBJ gave Allison and Oral Turner a grant to build a workable prototype and to file a patent in the United States.

Among the financing solutions the DBJ brings to businesses, few are more needed than those for the farming industry – a sector long underserved by the financial institutions and extremely dependent on the DBJ’s support, the release says.

By combining various loan products, Jamaican farmers can borrow up to $100 million, most of which can be accessed through the bank’s network of Approved Financial Institutions. In addition, DBJ’s capacity development programme helps farmers and other MSMEs who may have difficulties getting access to financing. Through the DBJ’s Strategic Services Division, the bank provides services that include mentoring and coaching, business process improvement, and how to prepare business plans, financial statements, and marketing and strategic plans.

Success stories

Among the success stories for the Development Bank of Jamaica are Kingsley Palmer and Jeremy Shields, who are both beneficiaries of DBJ loans and who operate greenhouse farms. Both Palmer and Shields benefited from the DBJ’s loan funding that they used to improve their greenhouse facilities. Since then, both are showing greater yields and improved quality of crops that they supply to the hotel industry and the local markets. Palmer even built a water-harvesting system that stores rainwater that he recycles to water his crops. Such a system is incredibly handy in these dry periods.

Another businessman who has benefited from a DBJ loan is poultry farmer Alfredo Jennings, who can easily be described as a trendsetter in his industry. He operates a solar-powered chicken farm that is currently contracted to provide 900,000 chickens to the Jamaica Broilers Group for the year.

The DBJ will be issuing calls for projects shortly to partner with approximately 11 private sector development partners to fund projects that will build the capacity of MSMEs to become more efficient, effective and sustainable enterprises contributing to the overall economic development of the country.

The call will cover four broad categories including the development of MSMEs operating in traditional sectors such as agriculture. The DBJ will fund up to 70 per cent of the project cost to a maximum of $7 million. The request for projects will be advertised in the print media, DBJ’s website and on social media.

The DBJ also has the Credit Enhancement Facility that provides partial guarantee of up to $15 million for viable small and medium-sized farm projects. DBJ’s credit support has benefited all types

of farmers, including horticulturists, and those raising poultry, pigs, bees, goats, fish and cattle.

DBJ’s booth at the Denbigh Showground will showcase information for farmers and others, and the bank’s staff will market its various products and services to patrons.