Jamaica kicks off national strategy for ginger under FAO OCOP Initiative

Jamaica has officially launched its national implementation of the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative with a workshop aimed at revitalizing the country’s struggling ginger industry. The workshop, held in Kingston on 10 July 2025, was organized by FAO in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining and the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA).

The OCOP is a global initiative introduced by FAO in 2021 designed to help countries sustainably develop Special Agricultural Products (SAPs) with high potential for food security, nutrition, livelihoods, and cultural value. The initiative currently supports 95 countries in developing 56 SAPs ranging from field and horticultural crops to forest, livestock, and fishery products.

Jamaica has selected ginger as its SAP and is developing the ginger value chain as one of 11 project countries supported by the FAO global project Scaling the Implementation of the OCOP Initiative. Ginger is grown across several parishes in Jamaica and is internationally recognized for its rich flavour and aroma, particularly for varieties such as Jamaica Yellow, Jamaica Native, Jamaica Blue, and Hawaiian Chinese. Despite this strong potential, the industry has faced challenges such as rhizome rot disease, limited access to clean planting material, and weak coordination across the value chain.

The OCOP initiative aims to address these challenges by strengthening stakeholder collaboration, improving disease management, and supporting sustainable production and market access. Activities under the project will include farmer training, policy support, value chain analysis and the development of a comprehensive strategy and national action plan for the ginger sector.

The workshop brought together key stakeholders, including government agencies, researchers, farmers and private sector representatives to review findings from research into ginger in Jamaica over the past decade which will shape the development of a National Ginger Sector Strategy and Action Plan and the formation of the National Task Force on Ginger. This collective effort will be facilitated by JACRA and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The strategy will tackle major barriers to growth, including disease management, access to clean planting material, marketing, better coordination along the value chain, finance and the enabling environment.

FAO Representative for Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize - Ana Touza (left) and Director of Project Monitoring and Evaluation in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Ian Chambers (right), address stakeholders at the workshop. ©Fao/Dainalyn Swaby

FAO Representative to Jamaica Ana Touza emphasized the OCOP initiative’s farmer-focused approach. “This initiative is about building stronger value chains, ensuring that farmers have the tools and knowledge they need and bringing government, research, the private sector, other international organizations and farmers to the same table with a shared plan.”

Director of Project Monitoring and Evaluation in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Ian Chambers emphasized both the challenges and recent progress in the sector. “Over the past decade or so, we have seen a drastic reduction in the production and output of ginger, mainly because of the onset of the rhizome rot disease and to some extent, due to our farming systems and cultural practices. Ginger is one of our focus crops, and significant emphasis is being placed on improving production and productivity. We are grateful for this partnership under the FAO initiative, which will help us advance this effort.”

Acting Director General of JACRA Wayne Hunter underscored the importance of scaling up production and adding value. “Although the industry faces steep declines due to disease and underinvestment, rising global demand for high-quality organic ginger offers a potential path to recovery. Scaling up production, improving disease management, and developing value-added products will be key to the long-term sustainability of the sector.”

Participants at the workshop (left), ginger in a market in Jamaica (right). ©Fao/Dainalyn Swaby