Ganja Cultivation Project for small farmers to begin by March: Jamaica PM

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says that the Alternative Development Programme (ADP), which will provide an avenue for small ganja farmers to benefit from the ganja industry, will start by March 2019.

The programme aims to prevent and eliminate the illicit cultivation of ganja and channel the process through legal streams. The pilot, which will commence in Accompong, St. Elizabeth and Orange Hill in Westmoreland, will involve the farming of ganja to provide raw material for processors.

“It is a real fear that as that [ganja] industry emerges to become more corporatised, that the original ganja man, the original farmer, could very well be left out of the gains and the benefits, when you were the ones singing the praises and the benefits from how long,” Mr. Holness said.

“So this programme is of significant importance to ensure that small farmers, and, in fact, communities like Accompong, where there is certain discipline, a certain order, a certain social system that will ensure that it is not used in illicit ways, will benefit,” he added.

He was speaking at the Accompong Maroons’ 281st celebration of the signing of the peace treaty with the British and to commemorate the birthday of legendary leader Cudjoe, on Sunday (January 6), in the Maroon village, St. Elizabeth.

The Prime Minister said he has received the commitment of the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, that the programme will begin within the first quarter of this year.

“I know that you have actually started your part of the programme, but you are now awaiting the Government’s part of the programme to commence. I had a word with him (Minister Shaw) and he gave me a commitment that the Alternative Development Programme for the small ganja farmers to produce for the legal trade will start,” he said.

The 1998 Action Plan, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, provides for the inclusion of a programme, such as the ADP, through specifically designed rural development measures consistent with sustained national economic growth.

The programme will be administered by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries with oversight from the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA).

Among the stipulations are the tagging of plants under a track and trace mechanism; sale of products through licensed processors; farmers’ alignment to community-based associations/organisations; accommodating special groups, such as the Maroons and Rastafarians; and that maximum cultivation should not exceed half an acre per farmer.