By Tarnia Green,
Government Information Service
As Government moves forward with plans to develop an abattoir in Dominica, the Ministry of Agriculture is actively putting programmes in place, which will get livestock farmers to produce sanitary meat products of international standard.
On Thursday a livestock sensitization and upgrade workshop was held for farmers involved in the industry at the Public Service Conference Room.
Head of the Agricultural Investment Unit, Dr. John Toussaint, said that through this workshop, the ministry is hoping that farmers will be trained on how to ensure that meats produced are in keeping with European Union requirements.
“As we know, the Prime Minister announced a national abattoir and because of that, we feel it is fitting to get the farmers aware of what is actually going on. This abattoir is not just putting up a structure, but we have to be able to produce for the abattoir. This workshop has specific objectives. The main objective of this workshop is to actually get farmers to produce sanitary meat reaching the EU standards so that we can market the meat.”
Dr. Toussaint said that EU certification is paramount and will have several benefits.
 Head of the Agricultural
Investment Unit,
Dr. John Toussaint
“The abattoir we want to put on, we want it to be certified by EU for two important reasons. (1) Once we are certified, we can control the quality of meat which comes into this country. (2) To be certified, we have to start from the farm to the table. So, the farms, themselves, have to be certified. Government is going to assist the farmer to produce and we want to start good from the word ‘go’. Because of that, we want whatever kind of technical and financial support that the farmers are going to receive that they use it to the best of their advantage and use it specifically to do the things right from the first time.”
Government has identified a six point one acre property in the Layou Park area for the establishment of a seven million dollar multi- purpose meat processing plant or abattoir.
The meat processing plant is being funded by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Dr. Toussaint revealed that the plant will accommodate both poultry and pig products.
“The abattoir that we are preparing today is going to have the capacity to do about fifty (50) pigs per day, that is two hundred and fifty (250) pigs per week and when it is working at full capacity, it will be able to do a thousand (1 000) broilers per hour. This broiler section, we are going to do it in modules of two hundred and fifty to five hundred (250-500) birds. As we increase our production, we will add the second module to it. This is what we are talking about. We are talking about volume because to have any impact on the local market, we must produce volume and we have to be consistent.”
The Ministry of Agriculture is hoping that once the abattoir is established it will have the capacity to produce enough meat to supply neighbouring countries.
Reducing the cost of feed is another priority area of concern for the Ministry.
“What we really intend to do is to get the chicks or piglets and the feed. It is one of the important things with this business. We need to try to get New Port Meals and probably any other feed company in the region who really wants to do business with us to see how we can get the feed cheaper because we know the burden in production is the cost of feed. This will decide how competitive we are. If we have feed cheap, we produce cheaper, then we can complete much better. But if the feed is extra expensive, the local product will be so expensive and even if we put all kinds of restrictions or try to play around things to get this thing going, it might be a bit difficult for us.”
A number of partners including the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Caribbean Poultry Association teamed up with the Agricultural Investment Unit in organising Thursday’s livestock sensitization and upgrade workshop.
Meantime, Livestock Development Officer of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) based in Barbados, Dr. Cedric Lazarus has encouraged livestock farmers in Dominica to develop farmer associations.
Dr. Lazarus made the call while addressing the opening ceremony of a livestock sensitization and upgrade workshop on Thursday.
“In many countries, the farmers’ associations that exists are not strong enough or are pretty weak because farmers find it difficult to work together, to come together as an association. Now for us, it is easier for us to work with farmers’ associations than with individual farmers. It sounds impossible to work with individual farmers. Besides, not all our interventions is with Government. We also work closely with the private sector and private sector groups are farmers associations. So I implore Dominica to ensure that they have farmers associations that are strong, that can advise Government on policy issues, that can work together for the better of the sector.”
 Livestock Development
Officer of the Food and
Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) based in Barbados,
Dr. Cedric Lazarus
Dr. Lazarus said that strong farmer groups will determine the success of farmers on a national level.
“If you do not have strong goat farmers association or an umbrella group which includes all of these associations, how will Government be really able to assist you in a very meaningful way? How will you be able to influence Government policy? Because Government policy has to be from the bottom up. It is not the Minister of Agriculture duty to just implement policy or draft policy. They have to listen to the farmers groups that exists.”
The FAO official is lending his support to the strengthening of farmers groups on the island and will work with the Ministry of Agriculture in achieving its goal of strengthening agriculture in Dominica. |
