New Support for Jamaican Coffee Industry
Able to produce a strong volume of coffee, Jamaica’s coffee industry is currently facing a mismatch between supply and demand.
Hopefully only a temporary situation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has injected J$310.5 million to appease the issue and to help support a consistent income for coffee farmers.
The ministry itself was also the benefactor of a 65 laptop computer donation by the European Union, a move designed to help the country boost its database and the ultimate goal of boosting food productivity in Jamaica. The EU’s donation was valued at J$16 million and forms part of the body’s two-year programme in food security.
Meanwhile, the coffee industry support has been jointly provided through a secured loan by Jamaica’s Development Bank (DBJ) as well as by EXIM Bank. The former will provide 70 per cent of the total loan at an interest repayment rate of 10 per cent, while the remainder will be supplied by EXIM at a lower rate of seven to eight per cent.
The loan will reportedly help fund the purchase of 135,000 boxes of the country’s Blue Mountain Coffee and better the terms of sale for Jamaica’s largest export market, Japan, which recently decided to end the advance-payment system that had been in operation previously. Jamaican coffee exporters will now be in a position to support the short-term costs of sale, as opposed to Japanese importers having to advance pay, improving outward trading terms and hopefully re-establishing the position formerly enjoyed with the Japanese market.