Rebuilding Grenada’s livestock sector after Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan’s unabated rampage in 2004 caused widespread devastation in Grenada. The Category Three hurricane, which went on to become the strongest of that Atlantic hurricane season, cut through the island as it continued along its destructive path to neighbouring Caribbean countries.

Leaving 37 people dead and approximately 50 per cent of the population homeless, including Grenada’s Prime Minister, Ivan also caused extensive destruction in the agricultural sector, the mainstay of the country’s economy.

Traditional crops of nutmeg and cocoa were destroyed; the forest and its wildlife decimated; and crops and livestock were virtually wiped out.

The total estimated damage to livestock was £1.8 million (Eastern Caribbean $9 million) with chicken, pig, sheep, goat and cattle industries all being affected.

Correcting the problem

Immediately after Ivan, the Government of Grenada together with the Grenada Agency for Reconstruction and Development drew up two plans. First, an Emergency Plan, which provided immediate support to livestock farmers including rebuilding animal sheds, replacing animals and providing medicine, feed, and even generators. Second was a ten-year strategic plan for livestock development.

Peniel Mwasha, the livestock specialist assigned to Grenada by the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2007 to help rebuild the sector, explains that on arrival he began helping the Department of Agriculture lay down specific strategies for each animal type, which had not been addressed in the initial plan.

Around the island, farmers formed groups and it is through these that Mr Mwasha was able to organise training sessions for farmers and extension officers on how to feed the animals, mix the feed, and manage the herds.

He said that “many livestock farmers were eager to receive knowledge and skills on how to improve their livestock production and profitability.” A lot of attention was paid to animal health including nutritional improvement and worm control, and some of the farmers recognised the importance of planting food for their animals as well as conserving forage areas.

Keith McQueen, owner of a ranch in St Patrick’s northern agriculture district, is one of those farmers. He has set up a model ranch, where livestock and crops are grown to complement each other.

“I have noticed that most people have turned away from the livestock industry because the cost of feed is very high down here,” said Mr McQueen.

He saves money by feeding his stock with Gliricidia and Leucaena plants grown on his land. “They can grow so easily here and even in the dry season where the grass is very scarce these plants sometimes grow better than in the rainy season.”

Stemming imports

Although a vegetable farmer at first, Mr McQueen turned his attention to animal rearing in 2001 when he saw potential for growth in that area with shortages in pork, cattle, sheep and goat products.

“Grenada was importing lots and lots of meat. In fact in 2004, we imported over £799,000 (EC$4 million) of just pork products.”

He feels that building up the local livestock industry will “help food security and help us to create savings, jobs, and even foreign exchange if we produce enough meat to export.”

The Commonwealth expert, Mr Mwasha, who is funded by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, says that he is also working alongside the government to increase local production of meat to stem huge imports since, for example, 90 per cent of poultry meat is imported. Some set targets are to raise the production of mutton from 30,000lb per year to 75,000lb by 2015 and that of goat meat from 18,000lb to 115,000lb over the same period of time.

He adds that great effort is being put into strengthening the Grenada Poultry Association to increase more value to the finished products and to observe hygienic conditions so that the industry can be competitive with imports.

Preparing for the future

Since 2004, the government has set up the Agriculture Enterprise Development Project, from which 160 livestock farmers have received £399,000 (EC$2 million) to help them build up their respective farms.

Due to limited land few farmers rear cattle, especially for beef, so efforts are under way to establish a few pockets of dairy cattle through artificial insemination.

Mr Mwasha says that another important undertaking which the government has done is to recruit 73 young men and women to learn animal husbandry through on-the-job training. “The technical assistance team has spent and is still spending great amount of time to teach these trainees skills that they can impart to livestock farmers.”

He hopes that with these and other continued efforts the Department of Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture will soon be in a position to measure the overall impact of the last few years’ assistance to the overall national economy.

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