Durrant Pate/Contributor 

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has launched a dedicated Agricultural Protection Branch (APB), marking a significant new commitment to combating praedial larceny on the island and ensuring national food security. 

The move comes amid rising concerns that the criminal underworld is using agricultural theft to fund wider nefarious activities, threatening livelihoods, economic stability, and even national security. 

The new unit was formally launched last Friday (June 13) in Kingston with Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of strategic operations, Warren Clarke warning that praedial larceny has evolved beyond petty theft and now constitutes a “clear and present danger to our way of life…protecting our agriculture industry is a matter of national security.” 

Agriculture remains a vital pillar of the Jamaican economy, contributing over J$90 billion annually and supporting more than 200,000 livelihoods yet the sector has come under sustained attack, not only from thieves but also from a broader cultural shift that has made farming unattractive to the younger generation.

According to ACP Clarke, “It’s rare that you ask a youngster out of high school or university that they’ll tell you that they are going into agriculture, and that is a shame…Regrettably, the industry has been [under] siege from cultural unattractiveness.”

In addition to waning interest from young people, the sector is increasingly vulnerable to organised criminal activity. DCP Clarke outlined a concerning trend in which the proceeds of agricultural theft are used to purchase illegal firearms and fuel gang operations.

“Much of the yield from farms across the island has been pillaged by elements of criminal gangs,” DCP Clarke explained, adding, “the stolen resources drive influence, even political influence, which threatens governance, purchase firearms and ammunition and otherwise empower third-generation gangs that dampen the fortunes of our country.”