I commend the resilience of our food heroes

THERE IS absolutely no doubt that the agricultural sector continues to be critical as a source of employment, income generation and foreign exchange earnings, as well as rural and national development.

On this Eat Jamaican Day 2021, we wish to highlight that the agriculture and fisheries portfolios are intricately aligned to the strategic goals of the country and have a vital role to play in achieving sustainable growth in the economy.

With the help of all Jamaicans and our farmers and fishers we are building back stronger. For the second quarter of 2021, real value added for the goods producing industries grew by 12.7 per cent. A significant contribution to this growth was the 15 per cent growth achieved by the agricultural sector in this quarter.

For this, I must commend the resilience of our food heroes and the hard work that has been done by the ministry and its agencies in the implementation of the various projects and programmes to encourage Jamaicans to buy local and support our local farmers on our journey towards food security.

It is for those reasons that we utilise the opportunity during Eat Jamaican Month to reiterate our call for more Jamaicans to eat more of what we grow, so that our farmers will indeed grow more of what we eat.

We are committed to advancing and modernising the sector to achieve sustainability and urge more investors to invest in the expansion of production even as we urge more young people to become engaged in agricultural production.

Let us continue to work together to grow Jamaica through agriculture and fisheries.

Happy Eat Jamaican Day and God bless you!

Let us continue to work together to grow Jamaica through agriculture and fisheries.