Jamaica to supply more food in new deal with Cayman
(CNS): The Cayman Islands will be importing more plantain, breadfruit, soursop and ackee from Jamaica as part of a new import-export arrangement. Following a recent visit to the neighbouring island, Agriculture Minister Jay Ebanks approved a broadened list of agricultural produce from Jamaica to improve Cayman’s food security, saying that the new arrangement would give Cayman direct access to high-quality fresh produce.
“With the ongoing and increasing threats to global food supplies, from climate change to the war in Europe, expanding intra-regional trade within the Caribbean is critical to our food security and economic stability,” he said. He noted that demand for some of the produce now added to the list of permissible imports has exceeded what is grown locally. “Until sufficient supply is produced locally, Jamaica offers a good alternative as it is closer than other countries from which we import similar items.”
However, the government is also encouraging local farmers and the ministry will continue to provide them with the resources needed to strengthen their resilience to boost the islands’ food security.
Local farmers are also becoming more innovative. Beacon Farms in North Side, a non-profit organisation that provides jobs and training to Caymanians in recovery from substance abuse, recently harvested its first crop of mangelwurzels. This is a large root vegetable from the same family as red and sugar beets and Swiss chard. Commonly used as cattle fodder, both the leaves and roots are edible for humans, too.
Although mangelwurzels are typically grown in temperate climates, the Beacon Farms team successfully trialled a winter crop in their research and development garden this year and has plans to plant more extensively in their commercial fields next year.
“Mangels are a robust and versatile crop that grows well in Cayman’s soil and climate. If we can farm on a larger scale, mangels could help improve food security in our islands by providing a local food source for livestock and a nutritious vegetable for human consumption,” said Beacon Farm Chief Operating Officer Sandy Urquhart. “Developing our capacity to produce a locally-grown, nutritious animal fodder will reduce our dependence on importing from overseas.”
Expanding imports from Jamaica as Cayman pushes to increase its own stock is an obvious solution and continues a long-standing trading relationship spanning over 20 years, facilitating the import of agricultural commodities from Jamaica to the Cayman Islands in accordance with international standards.
Under the agreed import conditions, all exporters from Jamaica must have a valid import permit from the Department of Agriculture to Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Plant Quarantine’s produce inspection officers. The produce must be sourced from farms registered and certified by Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
All commodities intended for entry into the Cayman Islands must be inspected and certified to be of good quality, clean, and free of pests, soil and foreign matter by authorised officers from Jamaica’s Produce Inspection Division at approved packing houses or at the designated export complex.
Consignments must be accompanied by a valid phytosanitary certificate that is issued and signed by an officer of the National Plant Protection Organisation of Jamaica. They are subject to inspection on arrival by officers in the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Health Inspection Services Unit.
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Category: Agriculture, Business
This is to put any Caymanian Farmers out of Business and to TIE Cayman closer to Jamaica as our Govts seal our future in becoming the new “The Jamaica Islands”
We already have ties to Jamaica? It is on our crest.
Historical, not present day ties.
It’s a real shame and disgrace that we should even think about importing breadfruit, ackees, soursop and things like that when we can grow them here. Minister Jay have Government secure land to have breadfruit trees, ackee trees and all other such trees planted. Hire Caymanians too for these jobs instead of importing labour from such places. We have the best yellow heart breadfruits here and we also have some of the best ackees too. We can also have the best soursops too and everything else. Why should we have to be importing these things and supporting their economy? Aren’t we already supporting their economy enough already?
You are 100 percent correct that we “should not have to import those from anywhere” but sadly we have to. Show me a dozen or so able bodied “Caymanian” males apart from the already ” older farmers” who are the least bit interested in farming. I would venture to guess that there are more Caymanian women farming in their backyards than males. It can be hard work but so fulfilling and enjoyable any time I can go in my very small backyard and harvest, papayas, mangoes, guavas,sweetsops, pineapples, plantains peppers and herbs (the legal kind). I wish you younger guys would give it a try! Trust me you will enjoy it!
I personally know at least 2 young men who are passionate backyard farmers, so I’m sure there must be more than a dozen.
Just hope this agreement will keep a lot of them there that are migrating here in mass amounts these days to get jobs that Caymanians should have. Because we must have at least five or six of them to one Caymanian nowadays. We are completely out numbered in our own country by just that nationality alone.
Yea,11:40am, get the ‘CAYMANIANS”, to work first before you start taking gibberish.
Camanians don’t like to work 😂
Better check those containers when they arrive. May be more than mangoes in there.
Side note: UCCI needs to develop 100 level night course on their syllabus on how to communicate in the West Indies. Not just the words expressed in English, but the nuanced cultural intentions. eg. When someone looking for a favour (work/cash) promises enthusiastically to “meet you there tomorrow at 8am”, and then doesn’t show up, or the next day, with 3 pay-as-you-go smartphones that they won’t answer…I need help understanding this. What am I missing? Suspect it’s probably a whole module.
There should be no reason whatsoever to import any produce of this kind from anywhere in the world except your own back yard. surely someone somewhere has enough land and gumption to open a home farm to supply the whole of Cayman?
importing veg? cant we produce anything?
Would love to see some sweet mangos, oranges and other citrus coming from jamaica. Spray them to confirm they are free of disease etc.
They can’t easily load drugs into produce with pits.
That is what happens when the dregs of our society collides with the dreg of their society. I am sure you are aware that arrangements are already made before the drugs reach our shores. However there is always much to learn on FLOW channel 105 – UWITV about farming , education as well as other spectacular content. Jamaica has a lot of good going on there. And yes, I am a Caymanian born and raised.
Wherever the hell Kirks and Fosters get our fruit and veg from it’s complete garbage. Getting it from somewhere else can only be a good thing.
Manglewurzels for all! Thank God our new Minister has seen the light. You are on a roll Minister Jay! Nothing clears the head like a couple of tokes of manglewurzle before a night on the town.
This won’t end well!!!
It’s a good idea in general, but importing Yam and Soursop will have a negligible impact on food supply.
It will however provide a new conduit for importing illegal drugs and guns.
Not with the mighty Clifford in charge of CBC…..
Maybe we should concurrently reinstall a retired former Port Director ousted for off-book spending and lack of transparency, oh wait…nothing to see here!
Bravo to ALL local farms and farmers. Government should seriously consider expanding or revising the current farmer assistance programs into duty-free farm supplies and equipment, lower (or no) WP fees for workers and, in return, ensure farmers pass on all savings to consumers.
I wanted to buy some lovely-looking local scallion recently but it was 4 x the price of the imported scallion…. it’s a similar situation with all local products.
It’s commonsense that if local consumers can buy fresher local produce cheaper than imports, they will.
Hopefully Cayman Islands Government will find a common-sense fountain for its leaders to drink from!
Local tomatoes were $7 a pound in Kirk’s last weekend. Needless to say, they stayed right there to rot.
Kirk most likely fleeces the farmer buying them at $3.00/lb
The head of Kirk market gouges on everything!
We need a consumer advocacy group to break up the price collusion in these critical supply chain roles by publishing their COGS and profit margins. They have too much exploitive discretion to conspire against local consumers. It would actually help social image for vendors to provide this transparency.
Yup I would love to buy local but then when I compare it to imported price i cannot afford the local products. so i go for the cheapest products.
I’d volunteer sweat in a local produce coop.
Hopefully they can send us some herb!
Julianna promised that we’d be able to grow our own. God doesn’t like liars.
Give a man a fish….
Seasoned with Paraquat or glyphosate, be my guest.
Why can’t we strike agreements with Cuba, they don’t use pesticides or herbicides? Their fresh produce is better quality and safer than what we are getting from USA. I doubt very much the same is true for most of what we are now slated to get from Jamaica. Do our DEH or DoA run any samples on imported produce here, I’ve heard DEH do have the equipment to run these tests? If no one here does check for harmful pesticide and herbicide residues in fresh produce then why not? Maybe it’s another head in the sand situation that might open an avalanching can of worms?
I wonder if the MP sanctioning this move is aware of the risks? https://ipen.org/sites/default/files/documents/hhp_report_jamaica.pdf
Keep drinking that delicious communist kool-aid my comrad bredren. Everything from the workers paradise is clean and pure 😜
Most likely you’ve never been, for the veg that is. Politics will see you starve or be slow poisoned.
…just like the starving Cubans fleeing on make-shift boats seeking a better life – including food stability
We don’t exactly have food security here. Nor do certain parts of the US mainland. Also remember what happened to Puerto after the quake. They foolishly became to reliant on the USA to provide necessities. One big disaster here and survivors may have to make it off on whatever floats. Don’t kid yourself.
How can we have food security when most of our food is being imported? However I must add that the supermarkets did a very good job of keeping stock up even though we had to get used to some brands that we were not familiar with. The prices have increased immensely but I guess that is par for the course. We now have to buy smarter than we did in the past. This situation now creates an opportunity for us all to try growing something for ourselves. If every home owner with even a few meters of backyard will try to grow something it will be a help. Some of these huge lawns can be ripped up and food planted instead. Grow boxes can also be set up. I believe we can have food security in certain foods like, breadfruits, plantains and bananas, mangoes ( during the spring and summer time,) pumpkins, sweet potatoes, peppers, water melons etc., and many other short crops. Amazing things can happen if we just try. If space is short in your yard perhaps you might have a neighbour with large tracts – ask them if you can grow something and split the produce. We used to do that in the ” good old days” as well as the bartering system- e.g. Fish for cassava!!
Righto. Enjoy your Fox news tea.
The only vegetables I saw in biggest hotels in Cuba were either soggy beans and corn niblets out of a can, or tobacco for smoking.
I guess you never made it out of Havanna then?
Cuba purchase herbicides from Jamaica… check your facts.
At least they can read the labels in Cuba. Literacy speaks volumes and prevents others from being victims of stupidity.
Who needs Jamaica now then?
1:45pm, you are a racist bigot. Send home the construction workers, the helpers, the teachers,the preachers and see what you have.
Appears you totally misunderstood the comment!
When we going curb the demand of 1000 lbs of ganja a week and allow local production of this currently medically-prescribed herb?
Local indoor producers in Cayman have cannabis on the local black market that is on par with legal medical dispensary quality already. My guy sends me a bi-weekly message containing at least 10 different strains.
Keeping it illegal does nothing to stop local production, be it grown inside or outside.
and all that’s happening is that your “guy” and the rasta drug lords keep all the profits for their illegal enterprises,
which instead could be regulated and taxed as we do with alcohol and tobacco – both more dangerous and addictive drugs.
Rasta drug lords LMAO Nothing to do with other drug lords and government!
This is a smart move. Given that we have dragged our feet over the decades on this issue, I’m glad to see that the new Minister is trying to play catch-up.
For decades previous ministers have grandiose speeches about the importance of agriculture and self sustainability. And yet we are no farther ahead.
Now the world is facing many issues that directly impact food security. And we are just starting to move in the right direction. Better late than never I suppose.
Mr. Ebanks, try so sort out the agriculture department. That place needs real leadership and strategic thinkers.
Unless it comes by plane, breadfruit doesn’t ship well. Even if shipped in a chill container, it degrades rapidly.
Good to know we are going to get traditional Caymanian foods from Jamaica. I would have hoped that they were growing tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, beans, etc. We should be growing those things, along with okra, peppers, onions, herbs (dill, basil, oregano, garlic, ginger, turmeric, Jamaican Thyme, Thyme, Culantro, Cilantro, etc.)
Real pimento fruitwood would be nice too
They’ve cut them all down, there were a few left in central GT but now no more.
Blazing through the Ironwood as we speak. #sustainability
I don’t care what anybody says, the Jamaican mangoes are far superior to the outrageously priced Mexican and Ecquadorian mangoes we get in Foster’s.
Bring the Jamaican mangoes in now.
Great move, which should be beneficial, to secure plant-based food sources with this Cayman-Jamaica import-export trade agreement, especially given the close geographic proximity to one another and with close historical ties. Great job with this, Minister Jay Ebanks.
Wonder what instrument will contain the express contents of this Cayman-Jamaica plant-based food source important-export trade agreement?
If necessary, auxiliary issues could be included in a Memorandum of Understanding between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
I have encountered such said agreements before in the past between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.
* “…import-export…” and not “…important-export…”. Autocorrect got me on that one.
Why not from Central America like Costa Rico
Probably no bobos over there to provide the kick backs.
But why can we not import more mangoes from Jamaica? We cannot grow enough here to feed our Caymanian market. Furthermore, there are so many more varieties in Jamaica that are very hard to find here.
I don’t care what anybody says, the Jamaican mangoes are far superior to the outrageously priced Mexican and Ecquadorian mangoes we get in Foster’s.
Bring the Jamaican mangoes in now.
Big Bobo – I totally agree, this is a glaring omission.We are protecting our local producers who sell at exhorbitant cost- five times what they cost in the UK!. Jamaican mangoes are of the best quality and variety, yet we import them from all over central and S. America where due to gas treatment and refrigeration they are often of poor quality.
Farming has moved on. We can grow what we want and when we want with the right infrastructure and investment.
Funny how Caymanians don’t like us, yet rely on us for food and other resources.
Why you here again?
@12:30. “Caymanians” imply ALL. Bit of an ignorant statement. That’s like saying JAMAICANS are all the same…which you yourself would have to admit isn’t factual.
Generalization is a weapon of the weak and ignorant. Educate yourself.
30 @ 12:30 pm – I bet no Jamaican vendor will turn down Cayman dollars though!
Many Jamaicans don’t like Caymanians either but they certainly like what Cayman is to them!
Why bring in the like/dislike card? This is simply about pragmatism!!
Funny how you all don’t like Caymanians but rely on Cayman for a living and to have a better life.
They too bad mind. But like that CI dollar.
What does Cayman have to deliver back to Jamaica as part of this import/export agreement? Laundered money? It’s almost like our narco-logistics ministers are trying to get us blacklisted.
Jamaica Customs Agency under missing $2 Billion financial probe… http://radiojamaicanewsonline.com/local/jamaica-customs-agency-breaches-still-not-addressed
Excellent news.
Hooray – lets get pork & beef too! You are a great man Honorable Jay!
Maybe fresher but certainly no less toxic to human and animal health than US produce.
Why not Cancun for produce? An amazing selection of produce with better quality than US produce at half the price and under 400 miles away.
Not as close as Jamaica, but good idea all the same.
Not as good as Jamaican fruit and produce because in Mexico they use a ton of pesticides and chemicals on everything grown.
More weed coming too
thank god
Wise move Minister Jay, better than no contingencies at all. But what if worldwide food supply issues impact Jamaica? They will do what India recently did with sugar and wheat.
Meanwhile, Government NEEDS to reduce or remove tariffs on local farmers’ supplies and labour and ENSURE they pass-on the savings to consumers; that measure will support and encourage local agriculture. I don’t know if any Cayman government has tried or done this.
We better let the green iguanas and wild chickens thrive….Who knows?
good idea on paper…but cig will mess things up as usual and the stuff imported will still be more expensive than normal stuff that comes from florida….
*Great in paper.
Legalize it.
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