The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A consultant to the Bahamas Agriculture & Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) said yesterday that it was “critical” the necessary policies were implemented to underpin its work, and that Bahamian producers were ensured access to the local market.

Dr Omer Thomas, a special consultant to the Government on the Institute, told a press conference to highlight the thord annual Andros Business Outlook yesterday that $210 million in import substitutes could be realised after the third year of an aggressive food production programme at BAMSI.

He said: “It’s not the production from the BAMSI tutorial commercial farm, but it is the entire programme that the country as a whole would be involved in.

“We’re talking about the substitution of the import of snacks, fresh fruits, fresh meat, processed meat, and when you add all of that up you will see the substitution of around $210 million and that will incrementally increase as we go on.”

Acknowledging market access concerns, Dr Thomas said: “We are mindful of the fact that we need to establish a dependable and reliable marketing infrastructure to support the production efforts coming out of what we are doing. Critical in that is the underpinning of policy to assure and ensure access of our producers to the local market.

“BAMSI has started a process of engaging large producers and purchasers of agricultural produce. We want to bring them on board, so that when the volumes start to turn out we will not have difficulty in them being utilised.

“It is interesting to note that almost every one of these large distributors of agricultural produce ask for consistency, dependability and quality. This is what BAMSI will be spearheading; that producers can develop and grow a product, and assure the kind of quality that the international food safety standards demand.

“We are assuring that, guaranteeing that once we have started. That will remove the fear from large buyers and purchasers that once they buy something locally there is no assurance of quality.”