The Ministry of Agriculture has pledged $2 million to revitalise agriculture and reduce food import dependence, even as CARICOM pushes back its target to cut the regional food import bill by 25 per cent to 2027, the ministry’s top civil servant has told Barbados TODAY.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Terry Bascombe confirmed the investment, emphasising that despite regional setbacks with the “25 by 2025” initiative, boosting domestic food production remains a top priority.
“The biggest challenge we have in this environment, impacted negatively by climate change, is to ramp up production,” Bascombe said in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. “We are part of a regional effort to reduce the food component of import bills by 25 per cent by 2025. However, unforeseen developments last year disrupted progress; that would have been revealed in the last report of the special ministerial task force which confirmed several challenges that most countries in the region would have experienced. So many of us were on track and then we were derailed.”
Last month, during the 48th CARICOM summit, Guyana President Dr Irfaan Ali—who holds lead responsibility for agriculture and food security in the bloc’s quasi-cabinet—announced that achieving the goal would now require an additional two years due to extreme climate events and destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl.
The government’s financial commitment is focused on bringing several hundred acres of land back into production, contracting more than 100 farmers, and expanding a greenhouse programme.
With growing concerns over food security and import dependence, the Ministry of Agriculture insisted the production boost is a necessary step forward.
Bascombe said: “The bottom line is we have to increase production. I don’t want to point to specific developments, but I’m sure that we are all aware of certain developments that are happening globally and it is very scary because they have some indirect, but some have very direct implications on the ability of our people to feed ourselves. So we’ve taken the initiative to say, look, let us try to ensure that we can be as self-sufficient as we can in food and what that required was for us to implement a plan.”
He continued: “The ramp-up is involving the farmers across all the farming districts that are managed by the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC), like Spring Hall, River, Pine Basin, for example . . . So we are in a serious effort to increase production this year and I think we have a good opportunity to do so.”
The permanent secretary highlighted that a significant portion of the $2m is being used to cultivate 75 acres of land formerly under sugar cultivation.
“Thirty acres have been planted in sweet potatoes, another 30 in yams, and 15 in cassava,” he revealed. “This is just one aspect of a broader strategy to ensure we can be as self-sufficient as possible.”
He stressed the importance of market stability for farmers, noting that the government’s contract-growing initiative provides financial security for participants.
“Farmers need to be confident that when they increase production, they will have a guaranteed market. That’s why we have structured agreements where they produce set quantities with the assurance that the BADMC will purchase at agreed prices,” he said. “This investment is not just about growing more crops; it’s about sustainability and innovation. We are ensuring that farmers have the infrastructure and market security to make increased production viable.”
Beyond traditional crop cultivation, authorities are prioritising modern agricultural techniques. A greenhouse deployment project—previously delayed—has been revived with 30 new greenhouses being rolled out at schools, small farms, and large-scale agricultural sites across the island.
“We had encountered some issues when we first attempted to deploy the greenhouses a few years ago, including damage caused by Hurricane Beryl. We worked with consultants from the Netherlands to retrofit them, making them sturdier and fit for purpose,” Bascombe explained. “Now, they are being strategically placed to maximise productivity and ensure proper utilisation.”
The greenhouses, each measuring approximately 32 metres by 9.75 metres (106 feet by 32 feet), will enable year-round cultivation regardless of weather conditions.
The authorities are also exploring introducing non-traditional crops such as berries to diversify agricultural output.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
The post $2m to revive farming, tackle food import dependence as CARICOM sets back target appeared first on Barbados Today.
