During Tuesday’s Sectoral Debate held in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, Opposition spokesperson for Agriculture and Fisheries Dr. Dayton Campbell has drawn attention to the persistent struggles faced by thousands of the nation’s farmers and fisherfolk, arguing that the government’s policies have failed to deliver widespread tangible improvements for workers across the sectors.
Campbell opened his remarks by acknowledging the incremental gains made by the government in recent years, and he also paid tribute to the contributions of frontline workers, community leaders, and technical staff that keep Jamaica’s agriculture and fisheries industries running. “I will not deny that work has been done in some areas. I will not deny that some progress has been made. I will not deny the hard work of farmers, fishers, extension officers, 4-H leaders, technical staff, and rural communities,” Campbell stated.
But despite these scattered wins, Campbell pressed that the core test of government policy is whether it lifts the daily quality of life for the people who depend on these sectors for their livelihoods — and in far too many cases, that bar has not been met. The opposition spokesperson outlined a litany of unaddressed structural challenges that continue to hold producers back:
Small-scale producers are still burdened by exorbitantly priced agricultural inputs, and a large share lack access to reliable irrigation systems. Rural access roads, critical for transporting fresh produce from farm plots to national markets, remain in a state of disrepair. Thousands of producers also face regular praedial larceny without sufficient protective resources or enforcement to stem losses. For aspiring young producers, access to usable land remains out of reach for many, and affordable financing to grow operations is still largely unavailable. For fisherfolk, core infrastructure including cold storage facilities, properly maintained docking beaches, and reasonably priced professional equipment is still severely lacking. These upstream challenges have also translated to downstream burdens for consumers, who continue to face inflated prices for basic local food goods.
Compounding these issues, Campbell noted that many rural farming communities across the island report that government support is often delivered late, allocated in insufficient amounts, and distributed with a lack of transparency that fuels distrust in the system. He emphasized that these widespread issues are not isolated complaints from a small group of dissatisfied producers, but deep-rooted structural weaknesses that are preventing Jamaica from unlocking the full economic potential of its agriculture and fisheries sectors.
“Unless we confront these realities honestly, rural Jamaicans will continue to feel abandoned by a system that asks much of them while giving too little in return,” Campbell told the assembled lawmakers, pushing the government to prioritize targeted, systemic reform to address the gaps that are leaving too many primary producers behind.