BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, December 18, 2023 (SKNIS) – Throughout the year, the Ministry of Agriculture has been putting the necessary mechanisms in place to ensure that poultry production in St. Kitts and Nevis, will play a more significant role in the agriculture sector going forward.
Agriculture officials reported earlier that poultry accounts for more than 80 percent of the meat consumed in the region, and as such the ministry is squarely focused on reducing the importation of this critical food source by investing heavily to increase layer chicken production and broiler poultry production in the Federation. It is anticipated that this will help to reduce the country’s food import bill, in line with the objectives of the CARICOM 25 by 2025 Agenda.
Towards this goal, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Marine Resources, and Cooperatives, in collaboration with the International Cooperation and Development Fund (Taiwan ICDF), embarked on the St. Kitts and Nevis Layer Chicken Industry Sustainable Development Project. This project will see the establishment of a hatchery in the Federation that will have the capacity to produce over twenty thousand (20,000) day-old chicks per year for both meat and egg production.
“The potential of this initiative is tremendous when one considers that St. Kitts and Nevis imported near twenty (20) million dollars worth of chicken over 2022,” said Minister of Agriculture, Honourable Samal Duggins, who also noted that local farmers are now being positioned to earn portions of that $20 million being spent on imports.
While lending his support to the 2024 Budget, Minister Duggins said a number of local investors have shown serious interest in the poultry industry and that the ministry intends to work collaboratively with these investors to develop and advance the sector.
Looking even further ahead, the Agriculture Minister indicated that there is also a real possibility of St. Kitts and Nevis even becoming an exporter of poultry products to neighbouring islands.
With a hatchery being established in St. Kitts that will produce day-old chicks and a slaughter facility already operational on Nevis, Minister Duggins said the Federation is being positioned to feed the region. He said, “This isn’t a far-fetched idea; it is right there.”
Over the course of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture, with assistance from its local, regional and international partners held a number of training sessions for farmers on best agricultural practices in broiler and layer chicken production.
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