SWEET POTATO VALUE CHAIN WORKSHOP

On Friday 2nd December, A to Z Information Jamaica Ltd., CARDI and the Extension Division within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Barbuda Affairs (MAFBA) held a Sweet Potato Value Chain Workshop.  Participants included Farmers, Agro-processors, Extension Officers and staff from MAFBA, IICA and other stakeholders.

In the opening remarks, Minister Samantha Marshall, commented that it is always good to have exercises of this nature however, there must be continuity through follow up and work to show what lessons were learnt. “We are very grateful for this project. However, we must see the results.  Agriculture is everybody’s business and all need to be involved in the quest pertaining to Food Security and Sovereignty.  From Farmers, Extension Officers, Backyard Gardeners to Agro-processor,” said Minister Marshall.  She concluded by adding a challenge – Increase our yields as we strive not only to feed ourselves, and our visitors but do our part regionally as we aspire to achieve our 2025 SDG (Sustainable Development Goals).

An overview of the Sweet Potato Industry on the island was conducted by Lesroy Grant, Consultant for A to Z Information Jamaica Ltd. In his presentation, Grant mentioned that approximately 275 acres of farmland in three of the Agricultural Extension Districts where five (5) types of sweet potatoes were grown.  They are Beauregard, Mandella, King Crown, Hurricane, and Black Rock.  Grant gave a synopsis on Sweet Potato Agronomy which consists of land preparation, fertilization, selection of planting material, weed and pest control, irrigation, harvesting, yield per acreage, storage/marketing and record keeping. Further, he shared some of his observations from a field survey, these concerns included adequate water supply, accurate and adequate record keeping, marketing/market prices, the use of pheromones and farmers being members of a cooperative or an association. Mr. Grant concluded by adding that the sweet potato being one of the commodities selected by CARICOM for this region as a staple food, is one of the means to address Food Security and it has a very lucrative market.

CARDI’s Research and Development Work on Sweet Potatoes report was disseminated by Paul Lucas, CARDI Country Representative.  Lucas reiterated some of the points mentioned by Mr. Grant, the fact that sweet potato is a priority crop, and there is a huge potential for the commodity, also he mentioned other facts regarding the tuber such as the nutritional value and the versatility it has.  Further, Lucas noted that at CARDI they propagated eleven other types of sweet potato in addition to those mentioned by Grant.  These were Catch Me, Ube, Red King, 91, White Grill, Burton 1, Dominica Purple, Chicken Foot, Purple Queen, Bakra Mary, Oki and King Crown.    Other crucial information revealed during his presentation included that in 2022, CARDI supplied over a hundred farmers with sweet potato germplasm which can be established on approximately fifty (50) acres of sweet potato. Lucas also mentioned various synergies CARDI has with IICA, FAO, MAFBA and other stakeholders.

An Analysis of Sweet Potato Value Chain was demonstrated by Dr. Govind Seepersad, Project Coodinator for the Regional Sweet Potato Value Chain Enhancement and Technology Transfer Project.  This project is an initiative of CARDI and funded by Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) with three main objectives:

  • The intentions of strengthening the regional value chain, mainly in the four BMCs which are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Improving its market linkages
  • Facilitating investments in the Sweet Potato Industry.

Dr. Seepersad explained his term of reference (TOR) which was primarily two main functions (a) to perform a value chain analysis and (b) the development of business cases. In terms of the Value Chain Analysis, he was required to produce a stakeholder mapping, identify the demands, challenges, food safety, raw material production, trade requirements, costs, risks, and the private sector investing the sweet potato industry were some of the areas he had to report on.

One of the main concerns for Antigua and Barbuda he noted was the decline in production, this deficit ranged from 250 tons of sweet potato in 2016 to 70 tons in 2020 and this caused an increased importation of the tuber ranging from a value of $93,000 in 2017 to $142,000 in 2021.  During this presentation, it was also revealed that Antigua and Barbuda in the 1990s exported sweet potatoes and we are presently still importing the same commodity for our domestic use.

Other related matters referred to in his presentation were Government support, key performance parameters, source of planting material, improvement of farming over time, physical inputs, pesticides (Jacob weevil), irrigation technology (subsurface drip irrigation), harvesting/postharvest, the aesthetic appearance of the produce, markets (local, regional, international) and agro-processing.

Some other concerns made by Dr. Seepersad included:

  • a lack of coordination and cooperation among the stakeholders throughout the sweet potato value chains.
  • Elements of the chains obviously interact, e.g., farmers and traders, however, there is no overall industry integration, planning, coordination or oversight.
  • Different elements of the VCs operate largely in isolation, e.g., farmers, and market retailers. Thus, there are many different aspects of the chains that need to be enhanced, including contact and communication throughout.
  • The industry needs to have an integrated, planned approach to its activities and this can only result through coordinated development, followed by implementation, of a Strategic Action Plan.

Mr. Morrison Burns, an Agro-processor, who is also certified in areas such as composting production and management, environmental pollution monitoring and control, microbiology and food technology did a presentation on several key topics such as the health and nutritional benefits, quality control, dehydration, and processing.  “Why sweet potato, 1. for our health benefits 2. Food Security 3. New frontiers such as economics, entrepreneurship, and employment 4. Research and development of new products,” Burns said.

Additional concerns exchanged by other participants pertaining to the activities associated with this project, the availability of pheromone to the region, the standard of operation on the farms and the actual maintenance of machinery and implements. Additionally, the quality and availability of sweet potato mash are use on the production of by-products such as bread.

According to Mr. Owolabi Elabanjo, Acting Chief Extension Officer within MAFBA, who chaired this workshop, many years of research have been done and the information does exist.  However, there are gaps to bridge, which meant that everyone has to do their part and work holistically to get us to where we want and need to be.