HUNDREDS OF BARBADIAN farmers stand to reap the benefits of a special initiative where a larger amount of local produce will be sold to the cruise industry and grocery trade.
In a venture being led by Barbados’ National Union of Farmers (NUF) – partnering with Massy Stores and involving the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multi-lateral Investment Fund (MIF), there will be a renewed effort to connect between 100 and 150 farmers “directly” and 5 000 “indirectly” with an expanded market.
According to a “donors memorandum” related to the Integrating Small Farmers Into The Cruise Ship Value Chain In Barbados project, it will “stimulate smallholder farmer development by catalysing the migration of smallholder farmers to access higher value markets through supporting productive value chains, strengthening strong business networks in the cruise industry/grocery sectors and providing technical training in agricultural best practices”.
“This project will partner with the [NUF], which already has established market linkages with key buyer and anchor companies in the cruise/tourism value chain as well as other key partners in the agricultural sector”.
According to the memorandum, the current problem is that “small farmers lack technical skills (adequate agricultural practices to avoid crop mismanagement)…market knowledge, skills, and managerial capacity to engage adequately with the demands of the lead companies”, while NUF has “limited institutional capacity…to coordinate the efforts of all the stakeholders”.
“The project will scale-up an existing sustainable value chain model which centres on partnering farmers, with a supermarket and the cruise tourism industry. Currently, a group of about 20 small farmers are already providing high value, high quality products to [Massy Stores], but there is a need to increase volumes, the range of products and establish a consistent supply throughout the season,” the document explained.
“The cruise tourism sector is prepared to buy local produce, only if it is packaged and inspected at a single pack house which is certified by their food safety standards. [Massy Stores] designed and built such a facility, the first of its kind in Barbados, which has been awarded a gold standard by Carnival Cruise Lines.
“[Massy Stores] has employed an experienced fresh produce consultant to promote trade with local farmers and ensure they meet the quality standards. By having this company as the intermediary buyer, small farmers are able to have a sustainable income all year round since the company is planning to expand the supply to major hotel chains, restaurants and other touristic facilities.”
The memorandum said “twinning the cruise tourism and grocery sector together creates a win-win situation for the small farmers and the buyers”.
“Farmers will receive intensive training in quality and food safety regulations as well as post harvest handling and production techniques, in order to meet the stringent standards of the cruise tourism industry, which are also applicable to the international food industry,” it added.
