Can Jamaica Protect And Improve Its Agricultural Sector?

The road to economic recovery will be a long one but it could be a faster bounce back than in the aftermath of the global recession of 2008.

This is the latest assessment from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).

During a presentation to the United Nations high-level political forum on sustainable development on July 8 the institute reported that the Jamaican economy is expected to recover within 2 to 4 years while jobs should be back to pre COVID -19 levels within one to 3 years.

According to the PIOJ, the projected shorter recovery this time around is a result of the relative strength of the Jamaican economy and stimulus packages that have been rolled out locally and internationally.

While this is welcome news the path to recovery will not be without hurdles and challenges.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Crisis we take a look at one of the hurdles that need to be tackled head-on if the country is to retain the wealth and prosperity it so badly desires.

We look at crime but specific to the agricultural sector – praedial larceny.

Financial losses as a result of farm theft have been estimated to be in the region of 6 million dollars annually.

You will recall Model Agricultural Productions Limited -the mother farm that was featured in a previous episode of Beyond the Crisis. It is a modern agriculture enterprise utilizing the latest technology to boost production. It is also a hub for innovation and research.

This was an unplanned and unscheduled visit to the property in Innswood, St Catherine due to disturbing circumstances.

Workers were busy harvesting on one section of the property. West Indian red peppers were now ripe and ready for reaping…except persons not employed to the farm had been busy for several nights it appears helping themselves to most of the crop.

PART ONE

We caught up with Deputy Farm Manager Princess Lee who spoke to us about the disturbing discovery.

Lee wants to see more stringent penalties for praedial larceny so as to deter persons intending to commit such crimes.

PART TWO

Watch more Beyond the Crisis HERE