Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Pearnel Charles Jr has appealed to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for more collaboration aimed at boosting local and regional agricultural output and food security during the 37th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, held last week.

During his address at the conference in Quito, Ecuador, last Wednesday, March 30, Charles Jr addressed a forum of agriculture ministers and technocrats from across the region and called for more collaboration to support Jamaica’s growing agriculture and fisheries sector.

“Locally, Jamaica is seeking to develop sustainable food systems, by driving agribusiness, by modernising a more efficient agriculture sector and by supporting our government’s medium-term strategic priorities and being a significant contributor and the key driver of growth in our country,” the minister said.

He shared that the FAO and Government of Jamaica have partnered on a number of joint initiatives. One such, he said, is the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, a national school feeding programme that involves small farmers and suppliers of local food.

The FAO also provided assistance to Jamaica under its Resilience in Agriculture and Market Systems for COVID-19 Response Project by supplying cold chain facilities and technical tools to strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems and reduce waste.

Charles Jr, however, said that there is a need for more partnerships to build a resilient, inclusive and sustainable agricultural sector for generations to come and highlighted some areas for improvement.

“While at a country level our best strategies are integrated into our medium-term business plans, there are several constraints. There is need to advance more integrated land and water management for sustainable agri-food systems, innovative approaches, partnerships, solutions, financing and delivery mechanisms supported by close collaboration between research and development, and also the need for us to scale up climate action, particularly for countries that are most vulnerable to climate change,” he outlined.

To resolve these challenges, the minister recommended the provision of technical assistance to promote and develop value chain actors with technical and managerial capacities, as well as and digital tools to develop competitive and resilient agro-enterprises. He also pointed out the need for increased investments in competitive and resilient agro-enterprises and implementation of financial instruments and services as well as risk management mechanisms for efficient and inclusive agricultural food systems

Other areas of partnership, Charles Jr outlined, included supporting public-private partnerships to strengthen national innovation systems and provide technical assistance and capacity development for the implementation of mobile-based innovations for development. This effort, he said, should also involve the strengthening of livelihoods in coastal communities threatened by climate change.

The minister expressed appreciation to the FAO for its support over the years and noted that the Government of Jamaica remained committed to advancing climate action, placing women and youth at the forefront, and providing stakeholders with resources to integrate into the current and future direction of the agriculture sector.