Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), Dermon Spence (2nd left), along with (from left) Deputy Director, Livestock, MICAF, Dwight Williams; Agricultural Scientist and Former Deputy Director of Livestock, Bodles, Jasmin Holness; Professor Samuel Aggrey of Lumin Consulting; and Chief Executive Officer, Jamaica Dairy Development Board, Dean Avril, at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices on Monday, December 2, 2019. The occasion was a training session in Livestock Breeding Strategies and Selection Principles hosted by MICAF in collaboration with Lumin Consulting. Under the Bodles Redevelopment Project, a two-week training, which will run from December 2 to 6 and, December 16 to 20, is organised as part of work being carried out on ‘DNA mapping and Genome Sequencing of the Jamaica Hope Herd’ and will include participants from MICAF’s Research & Development Division and the industry.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Dermon Spence, says that there has been an increasing demand for livestock products globally, with a projected 22% increase in milk production by 2027.

He informed that data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) indicate that growing populations, rising affluence and urbanization are translating into increased demand for livestock products, particularly in developing countries.

“In fact, global demand is projected to increase by 70 per cent to feed an estimated population of 9.6 billion by 2050,” said the Permanent Secretary.

He added further that the increase in global demand has impacted the world price of milk, making the sector more attractive for local farmers and local producers, as the price of skimmed milk on the international market has equalled that of local fresh milk.

The Permanent Secretary who was speaking at the opening of a training session in Livestock Breeding Strategies and Selection Principles, hosted by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries in collaboration with Lumin Consulting at the Ministry’s New Kingston office on Monday, December 2, 2019, noted that Jamaica imports US$52 million or J$7.2 billion worth of dairy products annually and that the country’s goal must be to reduce the import bill.
“Therefore, this training session is quite timely and is a very important initiative as we seek to ramp up the production and productivity in our livestock industry and, in particular, milk production,” he said.

The training, which will run from December 2 to 6 and December 16 to 20, 2019, is aimed at strengthening the technical capabilities in livestock breeding and selection strategies of technicians within the industry, and also to support the development of the dairy sub-sector in Jamaica.
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