Minister Green Wants Agriculture To Be Viewed As A Viable Business

Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green (left), views papaya on sale by a vendor at the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s (JSE) 'Market meets the Market by the Sea' event, at the waterfront in downtown Kingston on Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon Floyd Green, says that the time has now come for agriculture to be viewed as a viable business. He noted that the agricultural sector needs to be repositioned, particularly in the minds of our young people and that agriculture is the way to go.

“We really need to look at how we view agriculture. We cannot just view it as just something that we do in our backyards. We must view it as a business, as a viable business that people invest in and, look to make profits from,” Minister Green said.

Speaking at the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s (JSE) 2nd staging of ‘Market meets the Market by the Sea’ event at the Waterfront in downtown Kingston on Thursday, February 20, 2020, Minister Green said that we have to find creative ways to remove some of the age-old problems in relation to doing agriculture. He stated further that agriculture is, in fact, an industry and has to be treated as such.

The event was held with the objective of bringing together small farmers and vendors with stockbrokers, listed companies, members of the JSE and other stakeholders from the financial industry.

Minister Green commended the JSE for staging the event, linking farmers with buyers and those interested in stocks.

“This is such an innovative idea. We need more innovation like this. We need more creative ideas that can show, ultimately, the linkages in the economy, that show how the stock exchange has a connection to what we grow in the ground in Jamaica,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister stated that Jamaica has too large a food import bill which he said means that there is a significant demand for food and food items. “In fact, in 2018 US$901 million was spent on importing food into Jamaica. Unfortunately, on the other side we only exported about US$200 million in food items,” he added.

Managing Director, Jamaica Stock Exchange, Marlene Street-Forest, said that the inaugural event which was held in 2019 was very successful with over 200 persons attending and 40 booths on display.

“The objective of ‘Market meets Market by the Sea’ is to twin agriculture with finance ensuring that we have financial literacy. It embodies and emphasizes the message of health and wealth, and provides a forum where we can meet with our farmers who have come with their produce, so we can have an appreciation of each person’s role,” she said.

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