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Home | Agriculture Ministry to Provide ‘Feed’ Support for Youth, Women and Persons With Disabilities
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green makes his contribution to the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 21.
May 23 (JIS):
A comprehensive agricultural development programme for youth, women and persons with disabilities will be undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.
The undertaking aims to continue the focus on creating greater opportunities for the targeted groups to get involved in agricultural pursuits and provide tangible support to motivate their achievements.
Through the initiative, called Project Feeding the Economy through Empowerment and Development (FEED), 25 per cent of all new agro-park lands will be reserved for assignment to women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure during his 2024/25 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (May 21).
He further indicated that $390 million under the Ministry’s Production Incentive Programme will be earmarked for access by young farmers to support specific crop lines.
Mr. Green said youth will be able to apply via a special portal created by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) to access the benefit and through their elected representative, subject to the appropriate verifications.
“Under Project FEED we will be partnering with the HEART/NSTA Trust to provide youth and women who graduate and are certified in greenhouse production with a greenhouse or shade house free of cost, and input support for their first crop,” he outlined.
The Minister further noted that under the initiative, a $100-million agricultural scholarship programme will be introduced to provide support for young people, especially those excelling in agriculture and related fields.
He added that a public-private partnership model will be used to generate funding for the programme that will be managed by the Jamaica 4H Clubs.
Minister Green also said that islandwide tractor operations and maintenance training will be provided free of cost. This, he indicated, will be done in partnership with HEART and the private sector.
He informed that under Project FEED, the Jamaica 4H Clubs will introduce a new small ruminant training programme to train and certify youth and women.
The Minister advised that at the end of this exercise, they will be provided with animals to start their own commercial operation.
Mr. Green said the mentorship component will also be initiated to create a connected community of mentees with mentors.
“Under Project FEED, we are partnering with the Jamaica Network of Rural Women Producers to develop cottage industries in goat milk, cheese, yoghurt, soaps, jams, jellies, pickles and syrups,” he informed.
Minister Green emphasised that the engagement of women and youth in agriculture is tantamount to its success.
