NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Concerns have been voiced that the government may be ‘reinventing the wheel’ by taking over the domestic egg production market, with the head of an agri-business group expressing doubt that the $15 million project announced by the government this week can have sustained success.
Caron Shepherd, head of the Bahamas Agro Entrepreneurs Group, said: “It’s a good idea but I just think it’s going down the wrong path to accomplish the goals they desire.”
The government on Monday unveiled plans to slash the country’s import bill by $12.5 million via the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources’ new egg production project, Golden Yolk. The project seeks to increase Bahamian egg production from 750,000 to more than 27 million eggs per year.
Under the project which falls under the purview of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, 38 poultry houses are slated for construction across twelve islands.
Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources, and Family Island Development Clay Sweeting spoke at the groundbreaking for the initiative at the Gladstone Road Agricultural Centre (GRAC) on Monday.
Sweeting explained that the management and operational responsibility for the grow houses will be contracted out to private farmers. Sweeting has stated that the government is not looking to get into egg production itself but rather create an enabling environment for domestic egg production.
However, Shepherd said she is not convinced.
She continued: “It appears that the government is getting into egg production. My suggestion would have been if you want $15 million you have farmers already in that industry. Why not assist them directly to improve their facilities and product rather than the government creating these facilities and hiring farmers to work for them?
“They already allocated land to the farmers so why not assist them in increasing the grow houses right where the farmers are? They know where everyone’s farm is. Why reinvent the wheel? The government is in place to create policies for farmers and agriculture so that we as a citizenry can produce more. ”
She added: “We have to learn the lessons from the previous years. Anything that the government has pout its hands to does not exist anymore and that is a reality.”
