Agriculture Minister Lisa Jawahir says better coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and local poultry farmers is needed to prevent another egg shortage like the one now affecting supermarket shelves in Saint Lucia.
For over a month, shoppers have found empty or nearly empty egg shelves at several supermarkets.
Speaking to reporters outside parliament on Tuesday, August 11, Jawahir acknowledged the problem and said the ministry had contacted farmers to see how it could help.
However, she explained that by then, some farmers had already chosen to replace their chickens. She said this decision affected local egg production.
“We reached out to the egg farmers to see what other support the ministry could have provided, but they had already decided to turn over their chickens at that point in time,” Jawahir said.
The minister said this situation shows the need for stronger communication between producers and the government, especially as Saint Lucia works to expand domestic food production.
Asked how similar shortages could be prevented in the future, Jawahir said there should be “more open conversations with the farmers” and that producers need to maintain a closer relationship with the ministry.
She said this is particularly important “now that we have our agenda for expansion of our food sector and our ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency”.
Jawahir made it clear that the government does not plan to get directly involved in commercial egg production.
“The government does not want to invest in hatcheries; we don’t want to go into production because we have several farmers that are doing this on a large scale,” she explained.
Instead, she said the government’s role is to set policies that help production and to support farmers when needed.
Jawahir also pointed out that many people involved in egg production are not registered with the Ministry of Agriculture.
“Well, we have many egg farmers. A lot of them are not entirely registered with the Ministry of Agriculture,” she said, describing registration as one of the tasks the ministry must address going forward.
The minister encouraged existing and prospective poultry farmers to work with the ministry’s extension officers and technical personnel, who can offer guidance and help them become registered.
She also noted that registration lets farmers access government incentives and benefits available to the agricultural sector.
“If you want to be a registered farmer so you can benefit from government incentives, you know, the concessions that are available for your sector, I advise strongly that farmers get registered,” Jawahir said.
She clarified that there is no government policy stopping farmers from selling directly to supermarkets or other distributors. She said agreements with individual farmers are up to the retailers, including any standards and inspections they require.
Jawahir stressed that registration becomes particularly important when producers require government assistance following major disruptions.
“If anything happens and on a large scale government needs to provide support, government would ultimately provide support to persons who, of course, register,” she said.
