As Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western and son of the soil, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Floyd Green doesn’t need to second-guess about the importance of farming.

He speaks with confidence and certain knowledge when he declares that farmers are “the most important people in our society”, and that “…once you have had something to eat you need to tell a farmer thank you”.

The trouble, though, is that the lived experience of most farmers in Jamaica does not reflect their importance to national food security. The harsh truth is that far too many have little to show for their lifelong hard work, from daybreak to sunset.

The constant scourge of farm theft — decoratively described as praedial larceny — routinely robs the farming sector of billions of dollars annually. Add to that uncertain markets, uncertain weather — the latter becoming even more unpredictable with scientifically diagnosed climate change — and the incentive to invest in agriculture falls precipitously for some.

The impact of Hurricane Beryl, which sideswiped Jamaica’s south coast in early July 2024, and the far more catastrophic Melissa which crossed over western Jamaica in late October last year underlined the dangers to agriculture posed by weather events.

The two storms, just under 16 months apart, are estimated to have caused damage in excess of $34 billion, affecting tens of thousands of farmers. Those disasters add weight to Mr Green’s ambition to have farmers get pension support as well as health and crop insurance.

He told a farm forum in Montego Bay recently that, “What we want people to recognise is that farming is as important as every other profession… So what we want is that you [farmers] have everything that every other profession has…”

That vision is by no means new. It’s a word picture that has been crafted by a succession of agriculture ministers down the decades.

Presumably, the experience of natural disasters over the last two years will further fuel a national determination to embrace insurance and pension protection for farmers. Beyond that, though, we need to minimise the never-ending, devastating impact of boom and bust in supply and demand for farm produce, if small-scale farming, particularly, is ever to be consistently attractive.

For example, in the immediate aftermath of Melissa, a scarcity of local produce sent prices soaring, triggering import licences for essentials. But rainfall remained good and farmers kept planting. The result has been a glut of local vegetables, spices, and other crops over recent months with some farmers complaining of having to “give away” their produce. Sadly, substantial amounts are rotting in the fields.

As has been said for generations, there needs to be special attention to chilled storage houses and food processing facilities — preferably powered by solar energy rather than expensive fossil fuels — to ensure steady, continuous supply of original and value-added farm produce. Crucially, such a scenario should ensure stable, predictable prices for local farmers as well as consumers including the hotel sector; and facilitate exports.

But, given the small scale of our largely unplanned, liberal, market-driven economy, which must compete with advanced, large-scale agricultural sectors in an increasingly complex, globalised world, the vision of adequate, viable local storage and processing is easier spoken about.

Yet, by whatever means, in the interest of Jamaica’s food security, a sustainable way to protect our farmers is urgently needed.