JAMAICA 'S Harvest of Neglect- Time to End the Cycle of Agricultural Waste

KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 5, 2025 - As farmers in St. Elizabeth once again watch their tomato harvests rot in the fields, a sobering statistic looms large: the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that post-harvest losses on Jamaican farms reach a staggering fifty percent.

This agricultural hemorrhage isn't merely a seasonal inconvenience—it's a chronic wound in the nation's economic potential. The scene repeats with clockwork predictability.

Farmers cultivate, harvest, and then helplessly witness as their produce—tomatoes today, root crops and other vegetables tomorrow—succumbs to spoilage while market prices plummet. 

Meanwhile, the agricultural sector continues to starve for critical infrastructure investments in storage facilities, farm roads, irrigation systems, and modern sales outlets.

In nations with developed agricultural systems, cold storage facilities and reliable irrigation stand as non-negotiable pillars of sustainability. Yet Jamaica faces a troubling knowledge gap: the country's current cold storage capacity for agricultural produce remains unknown, as do the optimal requirements.

This information vacuum persists because an agricultural census—which would also reveal crucial data about farmer populations and market usage—has yet to be conducted.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining (MICAF&M) recently broke ground on a J$120 million storage facility in St. Elizabeth and announced plans for containerized cold storage facilities across the island.

But such promises have echoed through the corridors of power since independence, with little to show as the nation's premier agricultural parish once again drowns in unsold tomatoes.

While new construction projects capture headlines, existing facilities like the Christiana Potato Cooperative and Agricultural Marketing Corporation (AMC) sit idle, victims of prohibitively expensive electricity costs from Jamaica Public Service (JPS).

“ Former Member of Parliament Derrick Rochester had constructed a tomato processing factory in Bull Savanna specifically to handle excess harvests from local farmers.  ”

The solution seems obvious: these facilities need investments in renewable energy—a purported government priority that has already seen Wigton wind energy transform into a publicly traded business and sparked discussions about nuclear electricity generation.

Jamaica's rivers, which once powered hydroelectric plants, continue to flow untapped.

Equally concerning is the Agricultural Investment Corporation's (AIC) perplexing management of potential storage hubs. The Spanish Town Road AMC complex and Guy's Hill building—both prime candidates for cold and dry storage—remain underutilized.

When a renowned audit firm was engaged to sell the Spanish Town facility, MICAF&M later denied divestment plans but offered no clarity on the reported J$130 million earmarked for the firm, nor the source of these funds.

As Jamaica grapples with agricultural gluts, shortages, and food security concerns, the AIC must fulfill its mandate and clarify these opaque arrangements.

Even private efforts to address the chronic tomato surplus have withered on the vine. Former Member of Parliament Derrick Rochester had constructed a tomato processing factory in Bull Savanna specifically to handle excess harvests from local farmers. 

After Rochester's death, his partner Mr. Vassell operated the facility until his own passing. When an agro-processing entrepreneur subsequently acquired the business, his interests shifted to processing ackee, pineapple, and pepper sauce—leaving tomato and carrot farmers once again stranded with their perishable harvests. 

The factory had even established a promising arrangement with the Jamaica Agricultural Society's trading arm, JASCEL, to supply products, but this initiative also collapsed, adding another chapter to Jamaica's saga of agricultural missed opportunities.

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