FAO and MOA Ground-Level Farm Assessments in Antigua and Barbuda by Brent Simon

The FAO Mission is spending this week on the ground across Antigua and Barbuda, visiting farms, interacting with farmers, and testing the real-world conditions behind the country’s agriculture sector. FAO Agri-Business Finance Specialist Dr. Omardath Maharaj, is working closely with Mr. Brent Georges/MOA Project Coordinator/FAO Focal Point in Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Mr. Adrian Bowen/MOA Extension officer, gathering data and assess the progress of project TCP/ANT/4001 (D): Sustainable Water Management and Access for Better Production in Antigua and Barbuda.  

Dr. Maharaj says the most consistent complaint on every farm is the “relatively high cost and unreliable access to water and energy.” Farmers are trying to survive inside an increasingly expensive operating environment, yet many have still been investing in harvesting and storage systems to stay afloat. According to him, these constraints directly limit production consistency and profitability — two ingredients protected agriculture depends on. Their business models, now in development, aim to plug those gaps with climate-smart, financially viable solutions.

But the field visits were not just confirming old data; they’re expanding the story.

“Field reality both confirms and deepens our understanding,” Maharaj explains. The mission is verifying long-known challenges like water scarcity but also picking up nuances that data sets don’t capture — start-up struggles, planting material costs, and how willing (or hesitant) farmers are to invest. These details are critical to building business cases that actually reflect Caribbean farmers’ realities instead of dropping cookie-cutter templates from abroad.

The mission is also focused on what can be done right now, not five years down the road.  Dr. Maharaj pointed to a set of immediate gains: tighter irrigation scheduling, low-cost rainwater harvesting upgrades, and simple monitoring tools that cut waste and decrease monthly costs. On the marketing side, he sees tremendous potential in value-added products — salad mixes, fresh produce bundles, and other creative offerings that reposition farmers’ crops for stronger income. Despite the challenges, Maharaj says the farms they visited are already positioned to benefit from protected-agriculture business models. Many growers have the structures, the initiative, and the drive — they just need more efficient systems and better market coordination. “With the right water-energy efficiencies and linkages, these farms can unlock their full potential,” he noted.

The Ministry of Agriculture and its Extension Division also appear ready to push the next stage of development. Maharaj describes the team — led by Permanent Secretary Walter Christopher and supported by Mr. Ika Fergus/Senior Extension Officer and FAO National Correspondent — as having strong foundational capacity and local knowledge. The upcoming recommendations will reinforce their need for specialized agribusiness tools so they can guide farmers through the investment and implementation steps ahead.

The mission continued its assessments throughout the week, shaping five business-case models that may influence the next wave of agricultural modernization in Antigua and Barbuda. If the solutions match the realities seen on the ground, the country’s protected-agriculture sector could be heading for a smarter, more resilient phase and one where farmers would not be fighting with basic utilities just to stay in business.