Government provides 100,000 baby chicks to farmers

The Government has distributed approximately 100,000 baby chicks to farmers in some of the hardest-hit communities, following Hurricane Melissa last year October.

“We've also provided 312 recipients with building material, so they can build back their coops,” said Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green.

He was addressing the Comeback Coops initiative in the Parottee community in St Elizabeth, on Friday, May 1.

The Minister said the plan now is to expand the initiative as part of ongoing recovery efforts.

“Where we are going to go now is into phase two of that initiative, and clearly, we work in tandem with the private sector and with our non-governmental organisations (NGOs),”  Green outlined.

The approach, he noted, is designed to align public and private resources in a structured recovery effort, aimed at rebuilding livelihoods.

Green pointed to the role of Hi-Pro as a key partner in the recovery process. He noted that the company’s Comeback Coops initiative complements the Government’s programme by providing additional support to farmers seeking to restart operations.

He indicated that such collaboration is critical in accelerating recovery in rural communities where poultry farming plays an essential economic role.

“Hi-Pro had also worked with us at the Ministry on an initiative where they provided veterinary support for people in communities and for their animals. That was a wonderful initiative, and they (Hi-Pro) went across all the hardest-hit areas and because of that, a number of animals were saved,” Green explained.

He added that the road ahead is a long one, but said the collaboration among Government, the private sector and organisations on the ground was helping to ease the burden on affected communities.

At the event in Parottee, beneficiaries received building materials to reconstruct chicken coops, along with chicks and feed to restart production, while community members supported construction efforts.

-JIS News

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