MONTEGO BAY, St James — President of the Jamaica Egg Farmers’ Association (JEFA) Mark Campbell has strongly criticised heavy reliance on imports, warning that the practice enriches foreign producers while stifling local farmers.

He has argued that this trend, in the long run, strengthens the economies of developed nations at the expense of developing countries such as Jamaica.

Campbell was speaking during the recent University of Technology (UTech) 2025/2026 Western Campus Seminar held at Sea Gardens Beach Resort in Montego Bay. The theme was: “Bridging Minds, Building Futures: Igniting Innovation through Collaboration”.

“I fundamentally and without apology submit that the road of importation is broad, beautiful and enticing but it is the road that leads to destruction for a nation. It leads into that abyss where the foreign producer laughs all the way to the bank while the local producer languishes in that zone of subsistence farming which is the mother and father of poverty. That, I submit, is one of the reasons there is still such a vast economic chasm between developed and developing countries,” Campbell argued.

He was sharing his views on the topic “Feeding the Nation Together: The Role of Collaboration in Advancing Jamaica’s Agricultural Sector”.

While he made the point that collaboration is vital in theory, Campbell stressed the challenges in practising this in the real world.

“With whom shall producers collaborate? Shall we collaborate with those whose sole interest is hinged unto that ‘profit motive’ which says, ‘As long as I can make a profit by importing, I do not care about the local producer or concepts such as food security?’ And that, I tell you, is the mentality of many of the margin gatherers in Jamaica,” he claimed.

Asked to elaborate on his point that there must be collaboration among those who committed to feeding the nation together, Campbell recommended the building of strong, integrity-based relationships with financial institutions; collaborating with research centres and farmer groups to share knowledge and improve productivity; embracing technology for efficiency, communication, and cost reduction; engaging key stakeholders to unlock opportunities; strengthening quality, logistics, packaging, and storage systems; partnering with institutions for training in negotiation and business skills; and working with climate-focused bodies to promote sustainable agriculture.

Campbell’s comments about the pitfalls of overreliance on imports were shaped by developments within the local egg market.

Recently JEFA strongly objected to a move by the Government to extend the waiver on duties for imported eggs until the end of May, arguing that such a decision would significantly harm local producers who are trying to recover from the ravages of back-to-back hurricanes.

The local egg farmers association’s concerns stemmed from a media release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, which indicated that an extension of the waiver — originally scheduled to end on February 28, 2026 — is now being sought through the end of May.

The ministry said it was closely monitoring egg supply and overall market conditions following disruption caused by Hurricane Melissa. It made the point that when the Category 5 storm struck on October 28, 2025, the egg industry was still recovering from Hurricane Beryl of 2024. It noted that following Beryl, JEFA had indicated production would normalise within approximately six months, but supply did not return to pre-Beryl levels.

During his presentation to the final year U-Tech business students Campbell did not specifically point to that issue. However, when pressed afterwards, he told the Jamaica Observer that local egg production has bounced back significantly after Hurricane Melissa last October.