Our farmers, our nation builders
IT IS that time again – time to place renewed focus on the work and worth of our farmers and the agricultural sector through the staging of the annual Denbigh Agricultural Show.
This year’s show, I believe, will assume particular significance against the background of the weatherrelated events of 2017 that have severely impacted the performance of the sector, requiring millions of dollars of unbudgeted expenditure by our farmers, the ministry, and other stakeholders.
In this context, the staging of the Denbigh Show epitomises the commitment, the will and the resilience of our farmers and, indeed, our country to forge ahead against all odds and continue to pursue growth through increased production and productivity in the sector.
As we celebrate Denbigh, it is fitting for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries to reiterate its resolve to continue to foster and facilitate a growth environment, which supports import substitution, export expansion, climate adaptation, the creation of new industries, the promotion of value-added and diversified production, as well as the expansion of agro-processing, as critical strategic priorities for the agricultural sector.
The Denbigh Agricultural Show is part of what defines who we are as Jamaicans. I commend the Jamaica Agricultural Society and its partners for their dedicated leadership in hosting this event and I invite all Jamaicans to join in making this show a memorable and successful one. In recognition of its value as not only a national but a regional and, indeed, an international event, the ministry, in collaboration with the JAS, has initiated specific measures to improve not only the product but the logistics and the aesthetics of the Denbigh experience. In accordance with the theme of this 65th Anniversary show, we expect that all the components of the event will combine to salute and pay tribute to the farmers of Jamaica who are truly nation builders. As I indicated in my presentation in this year’s Sectoral Debate in Parliament, our farmers are men and women of great dignity and resilience. Whether they belong to the JAS or the Production and Marketing Organisations (PMO) or both, as they very often do, they are zealous and united as farmers. I hail them and encourage them all to remain united – one strong group, working together; cultivating their crops; rearing their livestock; supplying the domestic, hospitality and export markets; providing primary produce for the manufacturing sector and advancing the sustainable growth of Jamaica, land we love! The Hon Karl Samuda, CD, MP Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries