• Argues not made ‘appealing’ enough to investors

• ‘Doesn’t want to promise’ farmer storm insurance

• Targeting Department of Agribusiness creation

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister says The Bahamas has done a poor job in making the agriculture and fisheries industries “sexy” enough to attract sufficient entrepreneurs and local capital investment.

Clay Sweeting, minister of agriculture, marine resources and Family Island affairs, told Tribune Business that one of his goals was to make the two sectors “more appealing” such that greater numbers of Bahamians will be willing to invest in the sector.

“I don’t think we have done a good job of making agriculture and marine resources sexy to the point where people want to invest, so I want to make it appealing to the Bahamian people to invest in farming and fishing,” the minister said of his objectives while in office.

Mr Sweeting, who comes from a fishing and entrepreneurial background himself, said his other goals include “modernising” the ministry such that permit applications and associated approvals are turned around much faster with the assistance of technology.

With numerous agriculture and fisheries-related objectives set out in the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) campaign manifesto, Our Blueprint for Change, the minister added that other targets include establishing a Department of Agribusiness that will have the task of assisting farmers to get their products to market more rapidly and placing them before hotels, food stores and restaurants.

However, Mr Sweeting said he “did not want to promise” that the newly-elected Davis administration will develop an insurance programme to cover livestock and crop losses during a major hurricane, even though this is mentioned in the Blueprint.

“The PLP will support farmers in developing modern techniques to expand and sustain their agribusiness, including assistance with sourcing insurance for livestock and crops,” the campaign manifesto reads.

However, Mr Sweeting, likely aware of the fiscal realities facing the Government, said of the insurance plan: “I know that we were going to look at that. We were looking at ways where farmers, at times when storms come, lose all their crops.

“But I don’t know if that will be one of my ministry’s focuses. At this moment it’s not something I want to promise because it may not come to fruition.”

Turning to his main goals, Mr Sweeting added: “Definitely it will be to modernise then ministry as well as to shorten a lot of the approval processes to ensure people are able to apply online and to digitise a good bit of the ministry.

“A lot of persons take a lot of time to get their permits, and we want to digitise that so the persons in the Family Islands can have the same quality of service as the people in Nassau.” This, Mr Sweeting said, would fit well with his Family Island development portfolio.

“We’re also going to ensure we create a Department of Agribusiness,” he told this newspaper. “The department will work with the farmers to ensure they have the necessary tools to get products from the farm to the wholesalers, retailers. It will be the middleman for that.”

The PLP’s Blueprint calls for the creation of “a Department of Agribusiness, within the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, to develop comprehensive policies and strategies which reach across government to successfully develop the agri-business sector”.

Other aspects also forming part of Mr Sweeting’s agenda are to “re-energise the agriculture industry so that the youth view it as a viable career option. We will highlight the connections of science and technology to the industry and its career paths,” the Blueprint added.

It also promised to “implement a modern day logistical distribution (packing house) system” and “invest in the modernisation of agricultural technology and training”. And, given COVID-19’s border closures, and transportation and supply chain disruptions, Mr Sweeting indicated he and the Blueprint are of one accord on this issue.

“We can use food security not just to find ways to secure food development for agriculture, but also food development from marine resources,” he said. Mr Sweeting pledged to “hit the ground running to find ways to make this happen”, adding: “We understand the realities we face ourselves, not just the high prices of food imports but the access.”

And, with food prices predicted to increase further before year-end 2021, the minister said this merely reinforced the need for The Bahamas to “find ways to feed ourselves”. Pledging to work closely with the private sector, Mr Sweeting said Bahamians will “see our policies, direction and where we want to go” in today’s Speech from the Throne.

“It’s a ministry with great potential, and I’m excited to be given the opportunity to make a difference in both New Providence and the Family Islands,” he added. “It’s a large portfolio, but I’m excited the Prime Minister has entrusted that to me and feels we can be successful.

“Food security will be a priority of the PLP. After the COVID-19 pandemic, it is evident now more than ever that food security is undeniably critical,” the party’s Blueprint promises. 

It pledged to “set specific targets via the National Development Plan for reducing food imports” and “establish an Agricultural/ Marine Development Bank to provide farmers with access to credit in exchange for a lien on their crops, as is done in other developing countries”.

The Bahamas Development Bank will be restructured, it added, “to facilitate, through the provision of insurance and guarantees, the scaling up and export capacity of Bahamian agricultural and fisheries exports”.