$272m pipeline targets infrastructure, technology, growth

Minister of Agriculture Dr Shantal Munro-Knight on Monday laid out an ambitious roadmap to reposition agriculture as a pillar of national resilience, with sweeping reforms, expanded technical capacity, and roughly $272m in priority investments, while reshaping how Barbadians think about farming and food security.

She told a breakfast colloquium –  Looking Forward: Agriculture 2030 – hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Nutritional Security at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Monday that Barbados must move beyond viewing agriculture as food production and instead recognise it as central to the country’s economic, environmental and social development.

“We talk about agriculture only in relation to open field agriculture, only about its production elements, and therefore we’ve made agriculture very small at a national level,” she said, as she addressed industry stakeholders.

“It’s a national resilience conversation. It’s a health conversation. It’s a national security conversation.”

Since assuming the portfolio from her predecessor, Indar Weir, following the February 11 general election, Dr Munro-Knight said months spent listening to farmers, ministry officials and other interest groups had convinced her that many of the challenges were deeply rooted and required long-term structural reform rather than quick fixes.

“There are some fundamental systemic challenges, and systemic challenges therefore require systemic responses.

“When I came into the ministry, I was inundated with calls about what people wanted to see, what we needed to do immediately… but I wanted to make sure that I resisted that notion of responding immediately because what happens at a systems level is you end up putting out fires, but you don’t deal with the root.”

She cited crop and livestock theft, monkey damage, declining soil quality and pests as examples of longstanding issues requiring coordinated, sustained action.

The transformation strategy would rest on several key pillars, beginning with strengthening the ministry itself. Dr Munro-Knight said: “My first pillar… my starting point is I need to get my house right.”

Work was already underway to review projects and programmes, improve internal systems, modernise processes through digital transformation, better align human resources and make the ministry more responsive to farmers and other industry figures, she said.

Presentations during the colloquium also showcased initiatives already underway, including expanded digital services through an agricultural portal, online platforms, and data-driven decision-making tools designed to improve service delivery and market access.

Officials also highlighted the Agridata platform, which is intended to provide farmers with access to market information, production contracts, harvest forecasts, and agricultural statistics in a single location.

Despite praising the commitment and expertise of ministry staff, the agriculture minister said additional technical capacity would be essential if agriculture was to expand.

“We’re just not enough,” she said, noting that only 18 extension officers currently serve farmers across the island.

“If I’m asking again for delivery at scale, I need to make sure that the ministry has the technical resources.”

A second pillar focuses on what the minister described as reconnecting Barbadians’ “hearts and minds” with agriculture:

“I don’t believe that the average Barbadian has really connected with the value of agriculture.

“So part of that hearts and minds concept is about how do we reconnect Barbadians with the notion of agriculture and what we grow and the value of it.”

Initiatives already being developed include internship opportunities for tertiary students, summer programmes that expose young people to farming and agribusiness, and partnerships with schools to strengthen agricultural education and entrepreneurship, she said.

Another pillar seeks to build greater capacity across agriculture by expanding technical support, embracing technology, improving staff training and strengthening quality assurance and regulatory systems to better support farmers and improve competitiveness.

Dr Munro-Knight revealed that draft legislation addressing pesticide use, along with new laws covering animal health and welfare, was among measures being prepared as part of efforts to modernise the regulatory framework.

Risk management would also feature prominently in the ministry’s agenda, with new initiatives to combat praedial larceny expected to be announced shortly. The strategy will also include stronger governance and accountability measures to improve planning and ensure that government investment delivers measurable results.

The roadmap culminates in what Dr Munro-Knight described as a major investment and innovation agenda designed to modernise agricultural infrastructure and strengthen long-term growth.

The government had already identified approximately US$136m ($272m) in priority investments, including cold-chain infrastructure, an export-certified packhouse, expanded laboratory services, cotton production, the Black Belly sheep industry and other projects intended to improve productivity and competitiveness.

“All of these things are actively working on. All of these things are part of the flight path and on the way to be delivered.”

Dr Munro-Knight stressed, however, that transforming agriculture would require far more than government action.

“Agriculture, food security, resilience, health – those are not just a ministry’s effort to deliver,” she said. “It has to be a holistic frame for delivery.”

 

(SM)