Green says relief support mobilised for agriculture sector, detailed damage assessments being done

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green says the Ministry is mobilising all efforts to restore livelihoods, production, and national food security as quickly and safely as possible in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

“My heart aches to see our agriculture and fisheries sectors brought to their knees. Our mining sector was also impacted by the hurricane, which will affect our productivity,” said Green in a statement on Wednesday.

“We will be doing all that is within our power to support our stakeholders as we chart this road to recovery,” he said.

Green said the Ministry is already on the ground, working through its various agencies to assist sectors during this difficult time.

He said it is conducting detailed assessments to determine the extent of the damage.

“We may be bent, but we are most certainly not broken. I have said it time and time again: Jamaica is a place blessed beyond imagination because we have the most resilient people on this planet. And there is no group more resilient than our farmers, fishers, and miners.”

Green noted that the hurricane came at a time when Jamaica was in the process of recovering from the passage of Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Raphael in 2024, which had already significantly disrupted livelihoods and caused substantial damage to the country's agriculture, fisheries, and mining sectors.

He said the Ministry’s prompt response and recovery interventions enabled the country to achieve not only recovery but also growth.

“We made significant strides, evidenced by our domestic crop sector growing by 30.5% between the period of July and September of this year. The Fisheries sector contributed J$32.6 billion to GDP last year. For the previous quarter, from April to June of this year, marine production totalled 2,511.43 MT, valued at J$5.7 billion, while aquaculture production was 110.98 MT, valued at J$135.5 million. Similarly, our mining sector recovered swiftly and firmly, with bauxite exports from January to September 2025 growing by 14.8% and alumina exports by 1.6% compared to the same period in 2024.”

Green said that though the road ahead looks uncertain, food security remains of paramount importance to Jamaica, and his Ministry is mobilising recovery efforts.

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