Agriculture

Highlights

• Employment moved up a bit in 2012, after four years of decline, to the same level as in 2008.
• Most recent data on production indicates that it declined.
• The Department of Agriculture was awarded last October nearly $382,000 in federal funds to increase exports of local specialty crops.

Overview

The share of agriculture in total production is less than 1.0%. However, it still remains important as a source of key foodstuffs, such as coffee and milk. The most recent information on production (Fiscal 2011) indicates that its value declined 5.2%, as the value of milk and poultry production fell.

In terms of employment, it has been going down for several reasons. Among those are the closing of farms, a decline in farm production, or an increase in imports of agricultural and food products. The share in certain key commodities and products (see graph below) is high. Although the most recent data is for 2007, the share fluctuates from 17% in the case of fresh milk to 90% in the case of pork meat.

Recent Developments

One initiative that should contribute to increase production and employment is the award to the Department of Agriculture of nearly $382,000 in federal funds to increase exports of local specialty crops. The award will be divided between seven projects.

1. “USDA: $382K to boost specialty crops,” Caribbean Business (Tuesday, October 2, 2012)