Local coffee farmers are set to receive support after Agriculture Minister Floyd Green announced on Tuesday, January 9, that coffee farmers will be prioritised under the new ‘Face of Food’ initiative.

Groups representing local coffee farmers have been calling on the Government to provide support to farmers who have been affected by recent heavy rains and earthquakes.

Chairman of the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association (JCEA) Norman Grant told Our Today that natural disasters have significantly affected the production of the 2023/2024 coffee crop.

“Unfortunately, the two months of disasters, earthquake, and rain have affected the production of the 2023/2024 crop, whereas the projection was about 300,000 boxes, we lost about 50,000 boxes of coffee from the trees because the rain and the hurricane during the peak period and we are estimating that loss to be about 50,000 boxes, that’s close to J$480 million, which is a huge loss sustained by our 500 farmers,” Grant stressed.

Grant added that the woes impacting coffee production have worsened with the poor farm road conditions that local farmers have to contend with.

However, Green said his ministry is set to launch the Crop Restoration and Establishment Programme (CREP) in the next financial year, which is geared towards rebuilding the coffee industry.

“It is tailored to suit 5,000 coffee farmers and 102,000 farm families. We’re going to be focusing on sustainable growth by ensuring that we embark on our biggest-ever replanting programme that Jamaica has seen for Blue Mountain Coffee,” he said.

Green was speaking at the launch of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival held at Devon House as part of the month-long celebration of Jamaica’s Blue Mountain coffee.

Last year, 288,196 boxes of coffee were produced in Jamaica, which represents a 16.4 per cent increase when compared to the previous year.

Acknowledging the negative impact of climatic conditions and the increase in costs for agricultural inputs on coffee production, Green said the aim is to increase output to 450,000 boxes of coffee and boost farmer productivity.

Green also highlighted the need for a comprehensive programme to tackle the poor road network in the Blue Mountain coffee range.

“This has to be outside of the regular farm road allocation, and I think we all have to come together and craft a specific programme because we know the terrain of the area – it’s the terrain of the area that makes our coffee so good,” he emphasised.

The agriculture minister also pledged his commitment to ensuring coffee farmers get a fair price for their coffee beans.

“For the sustainability of the coffee festival, our coffee farmers have to be motivated by ensuring that they are getting just returns on their investment. The future is bright for Blue Mountain Coffee and, clearly, the coffee festival provides even more emphasis on the best coffee in the world, but more than that, the coffee festival provides the greatest emphasis on the best coffee farmers in the world,” Green said.

Coffee is among Jamaica’s the top-10 export products and is a contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).