| |
The decision to cease the
production of sugar for export under the EU/ACP
Sugar Protocol Agreement – a 3 century long
tradition - is among the most momentous decision
ever made in the country. While the immediate
concern following the end of the 2005 crop in July
was to ensure that the affected workers were paid
their severance package based on previous
agreements, the medium to longer term challenge is
to provide significant opportunities to reconfigure
the economy to become more productive, responsive
and competitive.
This grounds the agriculture sector as a key area
of growth in the national economy. The policy of the
Government is to significantly increase non-sugar
agriculture production in a competitive and
sustainable manner through the development of
farmers. Production will be market led and the
penetration of new markets will be an area of focus.
An integrated production and marketing system is
expected to contribute to the economic
diversification programme. Special emphasis will be
placed on the commercialization of farmers in an
attempt to transform the sector into one that is
internationally competitive. One area of focus is
the development and implementation of a non-sugar
agricultural diversification programme that would
assist in the up scaling of the current production
for the domestic market and the development of
selected products for the export market. Attention
is also being placed on the potential utilization of
sugarcane in various economic and value added
processes for energy production (co-generation of
electricity and ethanol), rum distillation and
livestock feed. The investment in new enterprises
aligned with tourism and agriculture including
heritage, cultural and industrial activities are
also being considered.
Growth in the medium term will take advantage of
opportunities exist for the development of non-sugar
agriculture in St. Kitts and Nevis, including
improved and increased to access fertile
agricultural land currently occupied by sugarcane
for non-sugar crops to supply the expanding tourism
sector with fresh local produce on a regular basis
and improve their competitiveness with imported
products. Export market opportunities also exist in
the nearby sub-regional markets that currently
depend on the importation of local vegetables and
fruits from extra-regional sources.
The development challenges that agriculture must
overcome to meet its growth objectives in St. Kitts
and Nevis are no different from other CARICOM states
and coincidence of the St. Kitts and Nevis policy
goals with regional and hemispheric initiatives
provides some a guarantee of support on the regional
and hemispheric front. Indeed, opportunities exist
for St. Kitts and Nevis to benefit from the
regional, hemispheric and international and
partnerships with the OECS, through its Agriculture
Plan, the CARICOM led Jagdeo Initiative, the
Caribbean Fisheries Regional Mechanism (CRFM), the
UN FAO-led National Medium Term Investment Profiles
(NMTIP), the Summit of the Americas Agriculture
Agenda 2015 and the UN Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), especially Goals 1, 3, 7 and Goals 8.
__________________________________
1 Extracted from the National
Medium Term Priority Framework for FAO Assistance –
St. Kitts and Nevis Draft document, 2006
|
