Drop in hotel demand leaves farmers in lurch

Three months after Hurricane Melissa left the agricultural sector reeling from losses estimated by the World Bank at $60 billion, signs of recovery are now emerging.

But while short-term crops are once again flourishing, farmers are facing a new challenge as hotel closures create a troubling shortfall in demand. In a press briefing held at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, portfolio minister Floyd Green said the surplus varies across parishes, with multiple areas reporting excess production.

"Current data shows we are seeing excess production in cucumber, lettuce, pak choi and string beans. Parishes reporting multiple surpluses are: Clarendon with sweet potatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers and lettuce; St Elizabeth with yellow squash, cauliflower, cucumber, string beans, zucchini, lettuce and pak choi; Manchester with carrots, cucumber, lettuce, pak choi and string beans; Westmoreland with zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, pak choi; St Ann [with] string bean, lettuce and pak choi; and St Thomas with cucumber."

However, the minister noted that for some areas the excess is largely the result of reduced demand. He further explained that crops grown specifically for the hotel and hospitality sector - yellow cauliflower, zucchini and romaine lettuce - are experiencing slow movement.

While some hotels have reopened, others remain unable to accommodate normal occupancy levels, and, as such, the minister noted that "the current uptake remains uneven as that sector continues its own recovery following Melissa, these realities are again compounded by operational constraints with the supply chain"

"We already know that there is limited cold storage capacity but that has been further reduced by the loss of electricity to some of our main purveyors," he said.

Green added that farmers had planted in anticipation of the peak hotel season, resulting in excess. However, he said that consumers have already started to see significant reduction in vegetable and fruit prices.

"In fact most of these prices would have been reduced to 14 to 77 per cent, with watermelon at 63 per cent, dropping from 880 per kg to 330 per kg. Scotch bonnet that every has been complaining about, [we have] started to see some Scotch bonnet coming and we see a 20 per cent reduction in price. [There is a] 33 per cent reduction in pumpkin, 20 per cent reduction in sweet pepper and 40 per cent [reduction] in carrot," he said.

To manage what he described as a "glut" and to ensure farmers can reinvest, Green said the ministry is taking deliberate steps to stabilise the market.

"This stage of recovery must be managed carefully because we have to ensure that markets can absorb what farmers are producing. The ministry is embarking on a series of farmers' markets across the entire island for the next few weeks where RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority) and JAS (Jamaica Agricultural Society) will work together," he said. He added that the ministry will consider logistic support "which means transport support so they can sell".

In addition, the ministry is engaging agro-processors to convert excess produce into juices, concentrates and other value-added products. Green also revealed that the ministry is in the final stages of reviving a buy-back programme.

"[It was] something that we did in COVID-19 where we saw the same downturn in hotel market where the ministry directly intervened and provided a market for the farmers by buying the produce and redistributing," he said. Green also said storage remains a priority in the sector's recovery.

"We have put in place two 20-foot containers powered by renewable energy. We expect to operationalise those in the next three weeks and launch Essex Valley storage facility in early February and that will give us the capacity to store about 22 containers of fresh produce," he said.