Commonwealth of Dominica Presented by Mr. Samuel Carrette,

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Seminar on Banana Accompanying Measures

for Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

June 6, 2012

Introduction - Objectives

Problem Analysis – the need for interventions

Planned Interventions – Solutions

Expected Results

Indicators

Proposed Budget

Other donors

Conclusion

To address the underlying weakness in the agricultural sector relating to competitiveness and low productivity through:

strengthening of entrepreneurial development,

technological development and innovation,

implementation of standards of quality,

improvement of physical infrastructure,

development of agricultural information systems,

enhancement of risk management systems.

Agricultural Infrastructure:

Poor condition of feeder roads, causing costly and difficult access to farms

Lack of on farm irrigation limits productivity

The need for certification and operationalisation of multi-purpose packing houses

The need for certification and operationalisation of National Centre for Testing Excellence

Entrepreneurial Development Diseconomies of scale →high production unit costs,

inefficient use of inputs

Lack of adaptive capacity to absorb new technologies

Low land and labour productivity

Low capacity for risk mitigation in the face of adverse weather conditions and diseases

Challenges in accessing financing needed to expand investments

The Banana Sector

Reduced supply of farm labour and rapidly ageing farm population

Difficulties faced by new and young entrants (cost and availability of land)

The stagnation of yields over the past years Lack of adoption of new technology

Risk aversion

Limited use of innovation

Insufficient trained staff within the extension service to

disseminate information on new technology and innovation

Traditional practices of banana farmers have increased disease and pest pressures, especially nematode contamination

Agriculture Information Systems The need for an Agriculture Census (last 1995)

Agriculture Information Management System (AIMS) not operating at full capacity

The need for an assessment of the conditions of individual farms and development of farmer profiles

Lack of optimum farm viability models

Research and Development Physical infrastructure and human resources for

research and extension have been drastically reduced over the years

Limited access and adoption of new and more efficient technologies

Modernisation of the sector – need for new cropping system concepts (especially for bananas)

Risk Management Significant business and financial risk faced by

farmers

Risks from natural disasters

Adverse effects of pests - mealy bug, giant African snail, citrus tristeza virus, citrus greening, bay leaf rust, red palm complex and black sigatoka

Productivity of the Agricultural Sector : (i) promotion of entrepreneurial development

(ii) improvement of physical infrastructure

(iii) enhancement of agricultural information systems

(iv) enhancement of risk management systems

Competitiveness of the Agricultural Sector:

(i) implementation of standards of quality

(ii) promotion of technological development and innovation.

Rehabilitation and reconstruction of priority feeder roads

Provision of on farm irrigation

Equipment for and retrofitting of multi-purpose packing houses

Equipment for and accreditation of National Centre for Testing Excellence

Conduct Agriculture Census

Enhancement of AIMS (training, software, hardware, development of farmer profiles, database, GPS)

Policy and framework guidelines for National Agriculture Statistical Service (NASS)

Development of Optimum farm viability Models

Integrated crop model

Single crop model

Revolving Fund (percentage targeted specifically for agro-processors)

Support to Agro processors – Product development

Training - farm management instruction, basic agri-business concepts, accessing and interpretation of market and other agricultural information, and introduction to productivity-enhancing technologies, etc.

Dominica State College Module development

Pilot Land Bank (Castle Bruce/North East)

Support for insurance premium

Procurement and storage of supplies for Black sigatoka and citrus greening, etc

Pilot project for building resilience - Pineapple and Cocoa propagation and rehabilitation

Refurbishment of Agriculture stations – Woodforhill and Grandbay.

Equipment for Molecular laboratory

Retrofitting and equipment for enhancement of Produce Chemist Laboratory. Hub for small agro-processors (standards, testing, product development, and labelling)

Central Livestock Farm – genetic material for small ruminants

Creation of the pilot project in two sites - Castle Bruce and Calibishie

Demonstrate the effectiveness of increasing actual average yield while decreasing the cost of production in the short term

Adaptation of a new concept of cropping systems quality planting materials nematode-free land adequate irrigation and drainage scheme technical management organic and mineral fertilization cover crop and/or associated crops integrated pest and disease management pre- and post-harvest cautionary measures crop rotation.

Strengthened entrepreneurial development

Improved physical infrastructure

Enhanced agricultural information systems

Enhanced risk management systems

Standards of quality implemented

Technological development and innovation promoted

Agricultural production and export figures (in volume and value, data source: national statistics)

Banana exports to the EU market (in volume and value, measured as EU imports; data source: Eurostat, Comext)

GDP share of agriculture, broken down to banana, non-banana sector and agro-processing (value (US$; €) and share);

Real total banana production costs (fob, US$/T); Number of people and percentage of labour force employed

in the banana sector (data source: a survey of the labour market is scheduled for 2012. The findings will be used to determine the impact of the strategy on employment)

Household income in banana-dependent areas (data source: national statistical offices)

GDP per capita (data source: national statistical offices or World Bank; baseline year: 2008)

Poverty rates in rural areas (data source: progress in poverty reduction will be assessed in the next poverty assessment, which is expected to take place in 2015).

INTERVENTION BUDGET (€

million )

PERCENTAGE

ALLOCATION

Productivity 10.70 69%

Competitiveness 4.70 30%

External Audit and

Monitoring

0.06 0%

Visibility 0.04 0%

TOTAL

15.5

100%

IICA - Agricultural Health and Food Safety

FAO - Technical Cooperation Programme facilities, damage assessments

CARICOM - Regional Food and Nutrition Policy and Action Plan, CARICOM Agricultural Policy, and Regional Agri-Business Policy

CARDI - Increasing fresh and value-added products; value Chain clusters; competent producers, processor and marketers; planting materials; value chain utilizing appropriate technologies

CDB – support for the implementation of the National Export Strategy, disaster relief

CDB/DFID – crop insurance for non-bananas

DFID – preparation for and reduction of the risk from climate change and disasters

ALBA - poultry and pork production, coffee rehabilitation and fisheries development

IMF - citrus certification programme, support to horticulture, and coffee and cocoa rehabilitation programmes.

JICA -infrastructural development projects in the fishery sub-sector

Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela - support to feeder road rehabilitation

General Objective of the MSS Interventions are:

To achieve a sustained growth in production and

exports of the agricultural sector

Increased income for producers and exporters

To contribute to poverty reduction, rural development and social and economic stability