In a bold move aimed at reshaping Grenada’s agricultural landscape, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell has advocated for the cessation of nutmeg and chocolate exports from the island famously called the “Spice Isle”.
Mitchell shared his thoughts on what Grenada’s nutmeg industry can achieve on Monday evening as he presented “Vision 75”, a roadmap for the country’s development over the next 25 years.
Agriculture is a key pillar in the road map as Mitchell said it is important for Grenada to be able to feed itself.
“We produce hands down the finest nutmegs. But after 100 years, we still export our raw nutmegs. And it begs the question does exporting our raw nutmeg create one single additional job in Grenada? The answer is no,” he stated.
Nutmeg has long been hailed as one of Grenada’s primary exports, contributing significantly to the nation’s economy and global reputation. But, the country’s nutmeg industry has struggled over the last two decades after Hurricane Ivan destroyed over 90 per cent of fruit bearing trees.
The nutmeg fruit can be used to create food, medicine and cosmetics.
Mitchell said he has suggested ceasing the export of raw nutmegs to the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA) but they questioned how they were going to pay farmers.
The prime minister said his government is willing to work with the GCNA to secure financing for at least two years to purchase all raw nutmegs to stockpile them and then work towards creating a processing plant where products such as nutmeg oil, syrups and fat are created locally.
Mitchell noted that while Grenada cannot compete with major producers of nutmeg such as India and Indonesia in terms of volume it can make gains in other areas.
“We cannot compete for volume, therefore we must compete for value added. It is not that difficult, we do not have to wait 25 years to take decisions like this,” he said.
Mitchell told the audience at his presentation that his vision for Grenada’s nutmeg and cocoa sector piggybacks on what Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producers of cocoa beans, did when they introduced a policy to reduce exports of the product in favour of local bean to bar initiatives.
Grenada already has a local chocolate production industry.
The world famous Belmont Estate produces high-quality chocolate products from bean to bar in a sustainable manner.
