The Tribune

The Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) is planning to facilitate or invest up to $2m to boost local farmers' share of the fresh poultry market.

Aiming to boost farmers' revenue streams and reduce food imports, the BDB is launching its Community Poultry pilot project on New Providence. It plans to consult farmers in the coming week on plans to offer capital loans for broiler grow houses, along with short-term lending inputs for farmers interested in broiler production.

Broiler producers in the capital will be supported by a central poultry unit (CPU) as part of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) venture that will house both a feed mill and a poultry processing line.

The CPU will purchase and resell bulk feed, day-old chicks and equipment, in a bid to slash input costs for farmers who are currently paying $4 for a single broiler chick in some instances. The production will focus on all-natural, no antibiotics and hormone-free birds that will be provided fresh directly to Bahamian consumers.

The BDB said it believes the proposed price reductions, along with technical, processing and marketing support and access to financing, will reduce entry barriers to the extent that broiler poultry production will become financially viable for smaller farmers.

Once established, the CPU, in coordination with BDB's lending, will also provide low-cost inputs and technical support to Family Island farmers for fresh poultry production, stimulating the emergence of a small scale broiler production industry where there is a local market.

The programme was developed in co-ordination with a team of consultants including Justin Taylor and Dr Jason Sands, Bahamian specialists in poultry production and animal nutrition, respectively. The model will be more resilient to adverse weather events such as hurricanes and disease that have previously decimated large-scale producers..

Dave Smith, BDB's managing director, said it favoured partnering with the government-sponsored Bahamas venture capital fund to provide blended financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and encourage Bahamian participation in the economy as a necessary step post COVID-19.

The bank intends to open the community poultry project (CPP) to private capital investment. The focus on resiliency and growth for small-scale agricultural producers and local food security is also a reflection of the bank's focus on the sustainable development goals.