FARMING POTENTIAL

NOT only is there potential to increase the Barbados Black Belly Sheep population through a partnership with Suriname, but to produce value-added products as well.

Technical Advisor to the agriculture aspect of the Brokopondo Programme of Action, recently retired Chief Agricultural Officer Lennox Chandler, said there are persons in Suriname interested in partnering with Barbadians to produce lamb meat, as well as skins for leather. His comments came as he noted that they have already identified land in Suriname on which to rear the sheep, which is about 3 000 acres.

“There is talk about setting up a tannery to produce leather from the Barbados Black Belly Sheep, but obviously to do that we need numbers, but we cannot get the numbers in Barbados; with the best will in the world, we can’t do it. But there is a big opportunity for us to go to Suriname and do so, and I think we should take advantage of it. We can produce as many sheep as we want because there is a lot of land available, both private as well as Government-owned land,” he said in an interview with The Barbados Advocate.

Chandler said it is hoped the work regarding the rearing of sheep can start soon. He explained that while the Government of Barbados has agreed to gift some Barbados Black Belly Sheep to the Government and people of Suriname, they have not been able to send the sheep to that South American country as yet. His comments came as he said those executing the programme are currently working out the logistics in order to facilitate that aspect of the initiative.

“In Suriname they have lots of water and forage for sheep and there is also access to rice bran for feed, so I believe that the Barbados Black Belly Sheep would do well in Suriname. There is also the opportunity to cross breed and produce other types of animals that again is a big plus for us if we can get the sheep out there quickly,” he said.
Reflecting then on the response from Barbadians to the farming potential in Suriname, Chandler said while Barbados often has a number of “naysayers, soothsayers and all kinds of sayers”, the interest from persons wanting to engage in the programme has been overwhelming.

“Every day I receive phone calls, text messages asking how soon they can go out to Suriname, sometimes just to see what is happening. They want to go down to Suriname even just to get an idea of what is happening. People are ready to farm and surprisingly a lot of young people are interested and for obvious reasons – they cannot find many employment opportunities here, but they see an opportunity to go to Suriname and see how they can make it out there. Everybody won’t succeed, some will get frustrated and homesick, but the potential benefits are worth it,” he said.

In that vein, he is recommending that trained farmers be the ones to undertake the farming ventures. He said in addition to those already working in the area of farming, there are a number of newly trained farmers qualified through the Farmers Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive (FEED) that they can tap into as well.

“So I would not want to take people who are novices, but people who are trained – unless they are going with an experienced and trained farmer. That is why I would like to take six or so farmers out of the FEED programme, which would cement and solidify what they have learnt in the programme,” he stated.

Chandler went further, putting the case again for persons to form co-operatives to pursue the farming opportunities in Suriname. He is suggesting that in that case, even non-farmers can invest their money in the venture.

“I think they should form co-operatives, come together in groups, get their funds together and the person who is the bona fide farmer will go and the others would just support him or her as the case maybe,” he stated. (JRT)