Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA), Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight.
Opportunities are being made available through the Ministry of Agriculture’s Farmers’ Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive (FEED), for small farmers who are interested in getting involved in the island’s recently launched medicinal cannabis industry.
That’s according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA), Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight. During a recently held virtual press conference, she indicated that those interested in getting into the cultivation aspect of the industry but do not have access to land, can when they are applying, signal that you would like to participate under the pilot project, which is being facilitated by the FEED programme, through which they can rent the land at a reduced rate.
“They will be given some technical inputs as well. So for instance, assistance with irrigation, assistance with pesticides, fertilisers, etc., free. They would have access to technical persons as well who will work alongside with them. So we’re starting that as a pilot programme with five acres available,” Dr. Munro-Knight indicated.
The BMCLA’s CEO indicated however, that the five aces were not limited to five farmers. Her comments came as she explained that the pilot programme is catering to cultivators in Tier 1, which would be farms under an acre.
She continued, “So if people can get together, that can mean 10 farmers, or 15 farmers working on that five-acre lot and being able to be provided with those inputs free of cost and this is being facilitated through the Ministry of Agriculture”.
Meanwhile, Programme Administrator, Shanika Roberts-Odle added that after a year or two year of the programme, they will then be able to assess how successful the farmers have been, what changes may need to be made and see if and how it can be expanded to include others. Acknowledging that the FEED programme’s focus is food security, she therefore made clear that they do not have any intention of intruding on the original aim of the initiative.
“...We are definitely not interested in intruding too much into that, all we’re trying to do is provide an opportunity and a space, where we can, for those small tier cultivators,” Roberts-Odle added. (JRT)