New cooperative to fund aloe vera project

Member of Parliament Chad Blackman believes a newly established farming cooperative will drive economic growth in St James North.

Speaking during a farmers’ forum at the Gordon Greenidge Primary School on Sunday, Blackman revealed that the Ear of Corn Cooperative Society (ECCS) will also spearhead a major aloe vera project.

Additionally, he explained that the ECCS would also unite farmers and residents, create opportunities and establish direct links with retail, tourism, and export markets.

Blackman revealed that the aloe vera project, to be launched shortly, would showcase how local agriculture could move beyond raw production into higher-value markets. 

“For any product that you see having aloe; a soap, a lotion, across the world, look at the back of the product.

“The species of aloe that the global companies use is the species of aloe that we take for granted in our backyard,” he pointed out.

He urged residents to begin planting aloe, highlighting that partnerships with support agencies and financial institutions would be critical to producing at scale. 

“We cannot just export it as a commodity. We must export a high-level, quality product that the world will consume,” Blackman said.

Explaining the timing of the initiative, Blackman said the idea had been shared with residents well before registration. 

“Over the last year or two, I would have put forward the idea to the residents of St James North. St James North is not just agricultural, it’s not just urban, it’s rural, it’s part of the tourist belt,” he said.

Blackman said the project aligns food security and nutrition with tourism, the island’s leading income earner. 

“How do you ensure that issues of food security and nutrition are matched with the reality that we have a major income earner in tourism, and that locals, whilst providing food and agriculture, can also tap into the reality on the coast and further afield to increase the value chain and the possibilities for our residents through agriculture,” he said.

Referring to the establishment of the ECCS, he said it marked a major milestone in its move from concept to operation. 

“The cooperative isn’t just registered, it’s actually now a company, so it’s now moved beyond just the idea. It’s a fully registered entity,” Blackman said.

Farmers from across the constituency, many already engaged in crop production, livestock and other areas, attended the forum alongside representatives from the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation, Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and the Cooperative Department. Blackman said the aim was to help participants see agriculture as a commercial sector.

Drawing on his experience as Barbados’s former ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome, he said agriculture must be treated as central to development. 

“You would see the nexus between the development of large economies and agriculture. Agriculture isn’t seen as just some other sector. It is seen as the centre of the development and lifeblood of the country,” Blackman said.

He added that St James North had long possessed the necessary resources but lacked coordination. 

“We have an urban corridor, agriculture, tourism, investment, all colliding at one, but we’ve never taken all of those ingredients and formed it into a way that can now enhance the livelihoods of the residents,” he said.

Ryan Medford, founder of the ECCS, said fragmentation among farmers weakened their bargaining power. He explained that many of them operated in isolation, planting the same crops at the same time, which created oversupply and allowed retailers to drive prices down.

“The problem is not the retailer; it’s the lack of coordination among farmers,” he said, adding that better communication and planning would help manage supply and avoid market flooding. 

Medford proposed a contract farming model to track “who is growing what” and crop selection based on demand. 

“When a retailer sees that you can reliably produce and move product collectively, they respect you and give you a fair price,” he said.

Byron Gibson, co-founder of the HARVEST Cooperative, which helped formalise Ear of Corn, said farming was only one part of a broader agricultural economy, and those working the land were often the most financially disadvantaged. 

“Our entire national development must sit on a base of agriculture,” he said. “Sadly, the people with their fingers in the dirt are often at the base of the financial pyramid. That is a travesty that must be corrected.”