Amid reports of significant cases of poverty and hunger, a call has been made for the strengthening of Jamaica’s agro-processing industry to preserve foods that are grown locally.
The call was made by Chief Executive Officer of manufacturing giant, Seprod Group, Richard Pandohie who says the policy guiding the sector needs to be more streamlined. He told the Freedom Come Rain Newspaper that an increase in local production of food and the processing of value-added products is needed at this time.
“Mango season comes, and probably 50% of the mangoes end up on the ground,” he said, “Most of the stuff we grow, they get wasted in the field because we just don’t have room for it. It is a feast or famine in our system of agriculture. So agri-processing needs to be a big part of that conversation. So we’re not just going to primary products, we’ll convert them to something that will have further shelf life, further value for us to consume.”
This recommendation follows the revelation that 55.1 per cent of Jamaicans are facing food insecurity, with 28 per cent experiencing severe conditions in which they go hungry or spend entire days without eating, according to new United Nations data.
Pandohie also stated that SEPROD is attempting to make products more affordable for consumers, by providing more cost-friendly alternatives to imported products.
“We are trying to find alternatives to imports that are more affordable to our Jamaican public. I think the latest one is Surge Almond Milk, which is substantially cheaper than the imported products, and are better quality,” he stated, “And, I mean, that’s an example of just looking at something that we see people consume, and see at a higher price.”
In addition, he says he has been discussing methods to navigate the factors that are affecting production costs in Jamaica, while ensuring products are affordable. The manufacturer also highlighted some difficulties that have arisen from the ongoing Middle-Eastern conflict. Among them, he says, is a rise in the cost of importation of certain products, and the necessity of finding other affordable sources.
“The war is creating a situation, and what you used to get out of the Middle East, you have to divert [and] you have to find other places. Let’s take China and Asia. Shipping costs have gone up again. It’s over $10,000, $13,000 U.S. dollars a container, where it was $2,500 six months ago, seven months ago. And you constantly have to be shifting your supply chain to find other locations to kind of mitigate against the costs. I mean, look at the oil price and the fuel price,” he explained
“I imagine a lot of the companies out there are just constantly, constantly, you know, trying to navigate the rising cost dynamics out there to kind of make sure that the product is in a position where people can actually afford to buy it,” he added.
