Last Updated on August 26, 2022, 5:30 AM AST by Anthony Morris
In its ongoing thrust to ensure food security, the Ministry of Agriculture in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) seeks to establish a broiler industry on Nevis through the Department of Agriculture, targeting women and girls.
The announcement came from Alexis Jeffers, Minister of Agriculture, while he delivered remarks at the Opening Ceremony of a historic three-day Agri-preneur Conference on August 23, 2022.
The conference was hosted by the Department of Gender Affairs in collaboration with his ministry (of agriculture) and aimed at empowering participants to become business persons in the agriculture industry.
“We seek to establish a broiler industry here on the island of Nevis, and we have taken steps towards ensuring that we are putting policies in place to ensure that the broiler industry can develop. We are in the process of securing 61 acres of land in Webbe’s Estate.
“We will make these lands available to women, girls, and citizens and provide the necessary concessions to establish your business. Within the first five years of establishing your business, you will get concession on the feed, equipment, machinery, a vehicle. Of course, we’ll seek to ensure that the taxes associated with running your business are eliminated, or you won’t have to bear those burdens for the first five years,” he said.
The Minister of Agriculture noted that the process would be accessible for women and girls to participate in the project.
“We’re trying to make it easy for women, girls, and citizens to get involved in (the broiler) industry. I say that because millions of dollars worth of chicken come into the Federation daily, monthly, and annually.
“It is one of those meat products that all of us eat daily, but it’s a product that’s in demand and of course, whether there’s a pandemic in the future; whether there are challenges with transport to Nevis, once we are producing here, we will be able to eat chicken every day once we are making it. We would not be affected by outside forces.” He said, stressing the importance of setting up a broiler industry on the island
Establishing a broiler industry will increase job opportunities and uplift the economy of the island manifolds.
Mr Jeffers told the participants at the conference that there is hope on the horizon and offered advice, stating that although the conference targets women and girls, it would benefit others through them.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
