The creation of the Barbados-Guyana food terminal will not only provide new opportunities for trade between the two Caribbean nations but will also increase the agro-processing capabilities available to the island’s farming sector.
This assurance came on Friday from Chief Agricultural Officer Keeley Holder during debate on the 2023-2024 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in the Lower House.
She said increasing the rate of agro-processing here will also go a long way in improving the output of the island’s manufacturing sector.
“It opens up the opportunity for greater agro-processing above and beyond what we would be able to do in Barbados. Before you can get into agro-processing you need to have an affordable and abundant supply of raw materials, and that has been a critical point for the manufacturing sector.
“The food terminal creates an opportunity to boost our agro-processing capacity above and beyond what we are currently doing,” she said.
Holder said talks had already started between the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry and major farming stakeholders to implement a programme aimed at increasing the pack house facilities – buildings used to store produce – on the island.
“One of the reasons why that is so critical is that the rule of thumb is that for every hour that you have produce that you don’t remove the field heat after you harvest them, you lose a day of shelf life. So when we talk about food loss, we are not just talking about what we throw away, we are talking about high post-harvest losses which can be as high as 55 per cent in developing countries such as Barbados,” she said.
“So, again, putting that facility in place is a critical piece of infrastructure to allow farmers to extend their shelf life to be able to sell as much as they grow and not have to throw away large portions of it.” (SB)
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