by Linda Straker
- Exports of cocoa and cocoa preparations was US$1.37 million during 2023
- Exports of nutmeg, mace and cardamoms totalled US$4.76 million in 2023
- EC$14 million allocated to assist affected farming and fishing communities
Wayne George, Chairman of the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA), wants farmers whose farms were ravaged by Hurricane Beryl on 1 July to not only replant nutmeg trees but also to engage in intercropping.
He explained that nutmeg takes years to get back into heavy production, and intercropping will provide an opportunity for farmers to earn revenue from other crops that will take a short period to mature.
“We want to encourage the farmers to go back to the land; we want to motivate them to go back to the farms, plant the nutmegs, plant the cocoa,” George instructed during a news conference on 21 August, where Agriculture Minister Lennox Andrews announced financial support of between EC$4,500 and EC$9,000 for nutmeg and cocoa farmers affected by the hurricane. Government has allocated EC$14 million to assist the farming and fishing communities affected directly or indirectly by the passage of the hurricane.
“But, along with that cultivation, we want to admonish what you will add: plant bananas, plant plantains, plant the dasheen, plant the tannia, plant the potatoes, plant the avocadoes, plant the water nuts, so in the meantime, they can have these crops in the intermediate, while we nurture the nutmegs and the cocoa as their mature,” he said, reminding farmers that Grenada was already facing a food security problem before Hurricane Beryl.
Nutmeg is a fragile crop that will face significant challenges because of hurricane conditions; however, George said that moving away from planting them will not be in the country’s best interest. “I want to encourage our Grenadian nutmeg farmers of the value, the cultural importance, the social importance, the economic importance of our nutmeg industry.” He said, “We accept the fact that nutmeg is a fragile crop and some of them are thinking that they want to move away from the nutmeg and move into other cultivation. I do not want our farmers to go down that slippery slope.”
“Which crop could withstand the force of these hurricane winds?” he asked. “Whatever you turn to, if the hurricane comes along, you going to have some devastation. Every parish has a nutmeg infrastructure, there are pools in all of our parishes that alone should indicate to you, the importance, the enormity of nutmeg in Grenada.”
Andrew Augustine, Chairman of the Grenada Cocoa Association (CGA) said that cocoa farmers suffered 75% damage to the trees on their farms. “This demonstrates the impact it has had on the rural economy because cocoa and nutmeg are the bedrock of the rural economy,” he said, praising the decision of Government to provide financial assistance to affected farms and workers.
Exports of cocoa and cocoa preparations were US$1.37 million during 2023, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, while according to trendeconomy.com, the value of exports of nutmeg, mace, and cardamoms from Grenada totalled US$4.76 million in 2023.
