Producing animal feed is a business in demand locally to reduce imports and boost economic growth.
Unlocking wealth in agriculture
Business opportunities beyond farming
When people think of agriculture, they often picture vast fields of crops or herds of livestock. However, the industry offers numerous business opportunities beyond traditional farming, opportunities that can generate wealth and contribute to economic growth. From animal feed production to processed meat manufacturing and the nutraceutical industry, agriculture presents lucrative avenues that entrepreneurs can explore. In Jamaica, one such opportunity lies in local feed production, a billion-dollar industry that remains largely untapped. According to past Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) president Lenworth Fulton, currently, approximately US$140 million worth of raw materials are imported annually to produce poultry and pig feed in Jamaica, with Jamaica Broilers and Caribbean Broilers dominating the market. However, he believes local feed production could be a major business venture, enhancing food security while keeping valuable revenue within the country.
“If we could tap into that market that would be tremendous. Even capturing 35 per cent of that market would generate a hell of a heap of money,” said Fulton, while speaking with the Jamaica Observer.
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He noted that over 200,000 acres of former sugarcane lands, many of which are irrigated, could be repurposed for feed crop production. Corn and sorghum, two crops already tested in Jamaica to be viable, could be cultivated to replace imported feed ingredients. He stressed that Jamaica has the lands available for grain production for animal feed. The corn is used for carbohydrates and sorghum is for protein.
“Somebody could develop a feed business from cassava,” said Fulton.
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Third option is to develop a well managed cassava industry. Sweet cassava, a high-energy starch crop which is non toxic, can replace imported grain in animal feed. Unlike imported grains, cassava can be produced locally at lower costs, offering a sustainable alternative for feeding ruminants such as cows, goats, and sheep, as well as monogastric animals like pigs and poultry.
“That’s why the economy is not growing, we’re not developing the kind of industry that we could export to other Caribbean islands,” he said.
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Beyond grains, Fulton outlined other additional business opportunities in feed production, such as investing in growing one thousand acres of grass to produce hay and silage for livestock, particularly cattle and goats reducing concerns about how to feed cattle and goats. With semi-intensive grazing systems, animals would spend part of their time on free-range pastures and part in controlled feeding areas.
“This would save Jamaica foreign exchange because we’d be making the feed from grass right here, baling it, and selling it, and that’s a lucrative business we can run right here,” Fulton emphasised.
Another overlooked opportunity in agriculture is processed meat production, an industry dominated by large manufacturers locally. However, Fulton argues that smaller entrepreneurs could capitalise on frozen, pre-cooked meats specifically for the hospitality industry.
“If we can store it so that hotels can just pull a pack of 50 pounds instead of spending hours cooking, you can just heat it up and go,” he suggested.
Frozen jerk pork and chicken could also be pre-seasoned, vacuum-sealed, and packaged for easy microwaving. Fulton emphasised that the business of freezing, properly storing, and packaging jerk chicken for local and export markets remains largely untapped and presents significant opportunities for growth. With global demand for traditional and herbal medicine on the rise, another promising agricultural venture is the nutraceutical industry. Jamaica has an abundance of medicinal plants, many of which are already used locally but remain underdeveloped as an export sector. Fulton highlighted plants such as black mint, peppermint, and cat mint, which grow naturally and could be cultivated to support industry expansion, along with aloe vera, lemongrass, dandelion, and snake root. The manufacturing company Jamaican Teas Limited has been at the forefront of herbal tea exports, but Fulton believes there is room for more entrepreneurs to enter the market by producing locally sourced tea bags and medicinal extracts.
“Jamaica imports tea bags, even sorrel tea, from as far as Egypt and Kenya. So this is an industry that is ripe for development,” Fulton told the Business Observer.
One of the key challenges, however, is mechanisation, he explained that there needs to be easier, faster, more efficient ways to pick crops rather than individually by hand, one reaping, terminal reaping. With shifting global trade policies, Jamaica and the Caribbean could position themselves as alternative suppliers for major markets. With new tariffs from the US on exports, Canada and other countries will be looking for alternative suppliers, presenting an opportunity for Jamaica to bargain. Jamaica has the land, climate, and expertise to diversify its agricultural industry beyond farming, but Fulton believes lack of vision and over-reliance on imports have stunted economic growth.
“There are great opportunities here to develop agriculture, but we are not developing industries that could sustain us and create exports for the region,” he lamented.
FULTON… there’s a lot of opportunities. But, you know, we love to import too much.
