1. Home
2. Conferences
3. 2024 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference

Building Ag Business in the Bahamas

Katie Neuner, Jennifer Lutes, and Denice Ferguson

Summary

University of Missouri Extension Specialists in agriculture business and policy partnered with Convoy of Hope in a project that provided agricultural risk education to Bahamians looking to develop agriculture production and new value-chains in the Bahamas. The Bahamas, a country of around 385,000 people, imports roughly 92 percent of food consumed. Agriculture production makes up 3 percent of all employment and the farming and fishing industry accounts for 1.6 percent of GDP. After Hurricane Dorian hit in 2019, the Bahamas struggled to rebuild their only major industry, tourism. Shortly after, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, effectively shutting down all travel and tourism. As the only major engine for economic recovery shut down, unemployment skyrocketed to 49 percent, food became scarce and agricultural production became a necessity. The project supported local agricultural producers by providing production and market risk management education on a variety of crops. Specifically, educators taught about managing money habits, record keeping and financial statements, productions records, business planning, goal setting, direct marketing and the five P’s of marketing. Education on markets for locally grown produce and market chains was shared with both producers and government agencies serving the ag community. This project supported farmers looking to generate income and provide locally grown foods, which in turn will help Bahamians become more resilient to shocks such as Covid-19 or natural disasters in the future.

Details

---