The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Government wants Bahamian farmers to achieve the highest international standards as part of initiatives to grow the livestock sector, a top Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) executive said yesterday.

BAIC general manager, Troy Sampson, said that while the Bahamas’ sole abattoir or slaughterhouse is located in New Providence, greater demand could fuel more investment in that area.

He was speaking to Tribune Business yesterday at a meat safety workshop, designed to train farmers in safe harvesting, fabrication and distribution techniques, so they can produce marketable products for locals and the tourist industry.

The two-day workshop, held in conjunction with experts from Texas Tech University, focuses on areas such as food sanitation and processing, animal welfare, best practices for handling and sampling, sanitation and microbiology with meat production.

“This relationship with Texas Tech has been about three-and-a-half years in the making,” Mr Sampson said.  “While we are not where we want to be, we are pushing to improve the condition under which you raise your animals, harvest your animals and conditions under which you can get your harvested animals to market. 

“It requires a lot of attention, not only to the scientific process but also the infrastructure that is a part of making sure that we can produce more local brands of meats.”

Mr Sampson added: “Food security is a major plank of this government’s agenda. We just now need the vision to be matched with the technology, the information and, most importantly, the financial resources.

“To have the resources only centralized to some extent is really a disservice. We want to grow the industry across the country. The challenge is we have to have multiples of the same thing on multiple islands, as opposed to a Jamaica, for instance,  that may just need one.”

Mr Sampson continued : “I think more than a challenge, it really creates an opportunity. When you talk about the centralisation of everything on New Providence, where the assets are and everything is built, there is a challenge to duplicate those assets.

“I think the growth and development of the sector will drive where the resources are. There is a saying that if you build it they will come. If you grow the animals, it becomes absolutely necessary to ensure that they are harvested.

“Maybe it will be the growth and development of the sector that will demand an abattoir, whether fixed or mobile on other islands.”