The Caribbean, not least Guyana and Jamaica, have attracted both regional and wider international attention for the particular brand of its culinary creativity that transforms the assortment of cultivated fruit, vegetables and seasonings into bottled and packaged condiments and spices which, having originated mostly in domestic kitchens and used primarily in the homes and neighbourhoods from whence they came, have, over time, ‘graduated’, first onto roadside trays and, afterwards, supermarkets and other outlets, signs of their incremental recognition as commodities that had acquired an expanded commercial acceptance.
There are those who would argue that while both Guyana and Jamaica have demonstrated equal measures of creativity in turning out fruit and vegetable-based condiments, it has been Jamaica that has forged ahead in the internationalization of its products, those reaching much of the rest of the world through the Jamaica Productions Corporation (JAMPRO) arguably the standout marketing entity to have originated in the Caribbean; so much so, that, for all the global attention that Jamaica has realized from its world class tourism sector, it has persisted with the aggressive marketing of its agro-produce.
Jamaica has refused to turn its back on an agricultural sector that has demonstrated a level of stamina that has been recognized and celebrated not just at home but in the region, as a whole and further afield. The ‘globalization of the array of sauces and spices that it now offers significant swathes of North America and Europe is credited largely to the dynamism of the Jamaica Products Corporation (JAMPRO) a state run entity established in 1990 to “promote business opportunities in export and investment to the local and international private sector”.
That JAMPRO has been the standout regional product marketing agency serving a Carib-bean country both inside and outside the region, is a truism that is accepted as a fait accompli across the region. Recently, the Jamaican government sent an unmistakable signal that it intends to continue to back its success in securing international markets for its now significantly world-renowned agro produce by disclosing that the country has closed the deal on an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under which, over the next five years, Jamaica will benefit from a deal under which the country’s spices sector will benefit from a revitalization initiative that targets increasing the yield of local ginger, turmeric and pimento by 50 per cent, an initiative which a report on the agreement says “should generate sales of US$20.7 million, of which US$14.5 million is expected to be earned from exports.”
The disclosure is one that ought not to go unnoticed in the rest of the region, notably in Guyana, where there is a significantly larger agricultural sector and a comparable abundance of skill in the agro-processing sector that positions the country to equal, if not surpass Jamaica in terms of success on the international market. Instead, Guyanese agro-produce must rely mostly on ‘one off’ instances of regional and international exposure in order to position the sector to make a mark outside of a country that possesses a strictly limited domestic market.
Meanwhile, Jamaica is forging ahead. This week’s launch of the $US20 million Food Progress Jamaica Spices (JaSPICE) project with the USDA creates an initiative that “will support 7,500 agricultural sector actors, including women and youth, and put into production 2,250 hectares (6,000 acres) of turmeric, ginger, and pimento,” no small accomplishment for a country known much more for its world-renowned tourism industry than for its agricultural and agro processing prowess. The collaborative initiative with USDA, the report says, seeks to “integrate climate-resilient farming systems that support farmers in the use of improved planting material and management practices with a view to enhancing the production of high -quality ginger, turmeric, and pimento to a live that enhances their acceptability on the international market.
Jamaica’s targeting of extra-regional markets for its agricultural products coincides with the wider regional preoccupation with the acceleration of agricultural production, including the highly anticipated creation of a regional food security terminal in response to recent World Food Programme (WFP) comments on food security threats confronting parts of the region, though a point has now been reached where a report on this critical regional food security project is overdue. Of particular importance, to both Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean, here, is the emphasis which the United States’ health food industry continues to place on the importance of food imports meeting America’s demand for “high quality and responsibly produced herbs and spices.”
Jamaica’s own herbs and spices have long cleared that hurdle, a circumstance that almost certainly accounts for the US being the top export destination for Jamaican turmeric and ginger. The success of Jamaica’s herbs and spices on the extra-regional market is reflected in what The Observer newspaper says is the accolade which the country enjoys as “one of seven countries awarded approximately US$20 million to develop the spice industry under the USDA Food for Progress Programme,” a facility which the report says “helps developing countries and emerging democracies modernize and strengthen their agricultural sectors.”
