Goats on pasture that once was a bauxite (aluminum ore) mine, part ot the Mocho Goat Development Project, the aim of which is recovery of mined-out bauxite lands for goat production.

Jamaica’s “Goat Revolving Scheme” is a project initiated in 2000 that was initially conceptualized to provide goat meat for local consumption and the tourism sector as well as to provide quality breeding stock for local farmers.

Yesterday Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture announced the awarding of $5 million to Jamaican 4-H clubs to fund more programs to encourage and financially help young people get involved in agriculture. The money was made available from the country’s Agricultural Credit Board.

The ultimate aim of the Goat Revolving Scheme is to increase local production of goats for consumption and cut the island’s reliance on imported meat.

Agriculture minister of Jamaica, Dr. Christopher Tufton, left, awards $5 million to Executive Director of Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Lenworth Fulton, right.

“Between 2003 and 2007 we imported somewhere in the region of $330 million of goat and sheep meat, and therefore this says to us that there is a market that we are currently not satisfying, and this is an opportunity that we must take advantage of,” Minister of Agriculture Dr. Christopher Tufton said.

The Goat Revolving Scheme’s first phase in 2000 was funded by the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) and the American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture.

Answering critics who claimed that any money earmarked for agricultural production and promotion was wasted, the minister said:

“Every industrialized country that boasts the highest level of GDP are countries that have extended resources, energies and hard work in establishing and preserving an agricultural base and so I do not buy the argument that some people promote, that agriculture is a hopeless activity. I don’t support the idea that we should seek our fortunes elsewhere. It is important that we expand and preserve agriculture and it has to start with our young people,”