KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Ambassador Plenipotentiary for Economic Affairs, Dr Nigel Clarke, is calling for increased investment in agriculture, as there is great demand that is not being satisfied and which the nation has the ability to supply.

“If we focus more on growing our own produce, we would reduce the need to import and satisfy the demands of our markets, which also results in an increase in our gross domestic product (GDP),” he argued.

Dr Clarke was speaking at the Jamaica Employers’ Federation’s (JEF) third annual CEO Breakfast held today at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

He said that while there may be concerns about the impacts of climate change and natural disasters, new technologies are available to protect crops.

“It’s 2017, and with the application of technology and proper infrastructure, there’s no need to be so much at the mercy of droughts and floods as we are today. What we need to do, and what we will be certainly advocating for, is an acceleration of investments in water infrastructure, storage systems, distribution systems and irrigation, because the data suggest that wherever agriculture goes, that’s where Jamaica goes,” he noted.

Clarke said that agriculture has proven to be influential to the Jamaican market and earnings, and is a key component in the performance of the nation in each quarter.

He said the data show that “whenever agriculture does well, Jamaica does well and when agriculture suffers, as was the case in the last quarter… Jamaica suffers. So we need to have a strategic approach to agriculture and double up our efforts in that area”.

 “We tend to underestimate how important agriculture is to Jamaica. We’re very much still an agricultural society where agriculture plays a fundamental role in the daily lives of Jamaicans, and if we are to ensure that we can pick up and sustain going forward, we’re going to have to pay serious attention to agriculture,” he noted.