The Chief Economist of the World Bank, Mr Francois Bourguigon recently stated that agriculture is key to meeting the United Nations anti-poverty goals. He made special reference to the importance of rural agriculture, and called for efforts to boost agricultural production through high-level activities.

The Santoy Farmers Cooperative have embarked on one such high-level activity and have excelled at the fabrication of High Tunnel Houses (HTHs) and the production of various crops within those tunnel houses through assistance from the SGP and other donors. The quality and yields have been superior to the same crops grown outside of the HTHs. See example below of one crop.

HTH Vegetable Crop Results: Tomato
Harvest in Kilograms
Date Harvested - HTH production - Outside production
June 27 - 30 kg - 10 kg
July 04 - 30 kg - 9 kg
July 09 - 39 kg - 11 kg
July 14 -35 kg - 13 kg
July 20 -30 kg - 16 kg
July 27 -50 kg 11 kg
August 05 - 50 kg- 14 kg
August 10 - 54 kg - 10 kg
August 20 - 30 kg - 16 kg
August 26 - 32 kg - 4 kg
August 30 - 27 kg -
September 3 - 20 kg -
September 10 - 15 kg -
Total 442 kg - 114 kg
Totals: Inside ? 500 trees, yield 920kg; Outside ? 250 trees, yield 150kg

The Government of Jamaica, through the ministry of Agriculture, has also recognized the need for high-activity technologies to resuscitate the farming sector. Santoy Farmers? Cooperative believes it is poised to take up this challenge and to make a positive contribution to rural development.

With the expansion of our Market with the Fiesta Hotel, we have every intention of meeting those market demands in an environmentally friendly manner. As stated in our previous proposal, our farm is situated next to a river that flows near to the Negril Beach. Therefore the need for more controlled environmental agriculture is even greater on our farm. The HTHs reduce pesticide and insecticide usage; it stops wind drift into the river of those chemicals. It is an environmentally sound means of growing our specialty crops for the hotels. We want to protect the very environment that locals and tourists come to see and thereby provide us with a market for our produce in the hotels.

We want to create a model farm for other small farmers to witness and be encouraged by. There is a lack of success stories of small farmer cooperatives in Jamaica. As demands increase in Hanover and surrounding parishes, Santoy wants to ensure that this technology is available.

Land Degradation has been a problem since before the Santoy Farmers were born, and given the new focus of the Global Environment Facility on activities that improves soil fertility management and that which has minimal impact on soil structure, Santoy will use HTH technology to provide a structured approach to knowledge management and develop a training and construction manual to ensure that the technology is properly transferred.

Goals:
1. Increase the investment in and implementation of HTH production by community members and neighbouring farmers, thus expanding the environmental benefits of HTH Technology.
2. Build bigger HTHs on the Santoy Farm to increase production knowledge and experience, for the implementation of the most economical use of HTH technology, and to further implement agricultural practices that continue to reduce the environmental impact on local river and Negril beach and on other areas that this HTH technology is utilized.
3. Obtain the tools and resources necessary to conduct HTH construction in one day.
4. Establish Santoy Farmers? as a hub through which Hanover farmers can market their produce to the local tourism and grocery markets, especially the new market that the Fiesta Hotel will be as it opens in 2008.
5. Provide training for an increase of HTH construction and production and for the continued innovation of HTH production technology.
6. Involve high school students, through school work experience projects, in HTH production.
7. Continue to investigate and records high-yield agricultural technologies