The government of Antigua and Barbuda is moving forward with a bold policy push to shore up national food security, reaffirming its commitment to redistributing hundreds of acres of long-idle government-held agricultural land to active, qualified producers. The initiative, which was first unveiled to the public several months ago, centers on reclaiming unproductive farmland that was already zoned for agricultural use but had been left untended for years.
During a post-Cabinet press briefing held Thursday, Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant shared updates from the executive branch’s deliberations, noting that Cabinet received a progress report from Agriculture Minister Anthony Smith on the ongoing redistribution program. Per Smith’s briefing, the government has successfully recovered roughly 682 acres of abandoned or underutilized agricultural parcels that had remained unproductive for more than four years.
This inventory of reclaimed land was compiled after a thorough, systematic assessment conducted by the country’s Agricultural Extension Division. The portfolio includes plots managed directly by the Extension Division, holdings overseen by the Agricultural Development Corporation, designated livestock lands, and parcels that previously had unresolved ownership disputes.
All recovered acreage has now been marked for redistribution to vetted farmers who have a proven track record of consistent, productive agricultural activity. In the first phase of the rollout, 50 pre-screened farmers will receive either entirely new land allocations or additional acreage to scale up their existing operations. The core goals of this first phase are to lift domestic food output and build greater resilience for Antigua and Barbuda’s national food system.
Merchant confirmed that candidate vetting has already been completed by the Agricultural Extension Division, with land parcels set to be allocated in the order that applications were originally submitted. To guarantee that the reclaimed land remains in active productive use, Cabinet has approved a six-month probationary period for all initial allocations. Throughout this probation window, the Ministry of Agriculture will conduct close monitoring of on-site cultivation activities, overall productivity levels, and compliance with the agreed-uped development plans for each plot. Farmers that meet the requirements of sustained, active agricultural production during their probation will be granted long-term occupancy rights to their allocated land.
This land redistribution effort forms a core pillar of the Antigua and Barbuda government’s broader national strategy to put underused agricultural assets back to work. By growing local food production, the administration aims to cut the country’s long-standing dependence on imported food goods and build a more stable, self-reliant food system for the nation.