4-H chairman pushes youth farming to secure food supply

WESTERN BUREAU:

Jamaica 4-H Clubs chairman Colin Virgo is urging Caribbean governments and agricultural stakeholders to establish a regional Youth in Agriculture Task Force, warning that the region’s food-security goals will remain out of reach unless more young people are brought into farming.

Addressing a plenary session on Dynamics and Inclusive Agriculture and Fisheries: Exchanging Experiences for Growth, Productivity and Resilience during the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny, Virgo argued that the Caribbean faces a growing threat from an ageing farming population and insufficient youth participation in the sector.

He proposed a regional Youth in Agriculture Task Force capable of providing foundational agricultural education to 100,000 young people annually across the Caribbean.

“Life and young people in particular are impatient. So, bluntly, we have to stop the talking,” said Virgo.

He maintained that the target is achievable, noting that Jamaica’s 4-H movement already reaches approximately 100,000 young people through its programmes.

Virgo described the ageing agricultural workforce as one of the region’s most pressing, yet often overlooked, challenges.

“One of the elephants in the room, ladies and gentlemen, is that the Caribbean currently faces an ageing farming population. Can we allow farmers and agriculturalists to become a dying breed?” he asked.

He warned that the region can no longer assume food will always be readily available.

“As good as AI (artificial intelligence) makes it, as good as apps make it, as good as Android and Apple devices make it, not one of them will ever be able to create food,” he said.

Virgo stressed that any regional task force must focus on measurable outcomes rather than becoming another forum for discussion.

“This is going to be a Regional Youth in Agriculture Task Force, because we are going to be target driven, outcome driven,” he said.

He also challenged governments and agricultural organisations to reshape perceptions of farming by promoting it as a viable and profitable career.

“We must make agriculture sexy. We must make agriculture attractive. There must be a motivator, an incentive to get the young people involved quickly,” he said.

Among the measures he proposed were targeted financial products for young farmers, improved access to land and secure tenure arrangements, guaranteed market access, and greater support for value-added production.

“We can’t encourage young people to go into agriculture to simply do base production. We also have to give them the capacity for value-added production, food processing,” he said.

Virgo also called for incentives to support young people entering smart agriculture, including the use of drones, automated irrigation systems, AI-powered crop monitoring and climate-controlled greenhouses.

He further argued that Caribbean countries should view the region as a single agricultural market rather than competing territories.

“This initiative seeks to treat the Caribbean not as competitors but as collaborators. So, we must feel as if the Caribbean and CARICOM are one market, one sensible framework for all,” he said.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com