Grenada nutmeg farmers receive Christmas bonus

For the first time in a long nutmeg farmers in Grenada are receiving a little extra this end of year thanks to world market demand.

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada, Thursday, December 22, 2011 – More than US $270,000 will be distributed to the members of the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association this Christmas season.

This marks the first time in five years that the nutmeg farmers are reaping a year-end bonus.

The co-operative’s 2,485 growers will share the bonus that has come about as the result of a stable market, high prices and a steady increase in production after devastating hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

Grenada produces over 23% of the world's nutmeg, second only to Indonesia which produces 73% of the world's nutmeg.

The bonus works out to an average of nearly US$110 a grower. However, individual payouts will vary among the mix of small, medium and big farms.

The co-operative’s manager Marlon Clyne said though that Grenada's production is still far below pre-hurricane levels of more than 2,500 metric tons (2,750 tons) a year. It is currently producing about 350 metric tons (385 tons) of nutmeg a year.

Back in October, the Tillman Thomas administration launched a new programme, involving the farmers’ co-operative, that is aimed at turning the sector around.

The three-month-old Grenada Nutmeg Sector Development Strategy developed is being implemented to achieve the long term sustainability of the industry, reinforce market information to enable better decision making, increase the quality and quantity of the commodity, improve private and farmer sector governance, enable better access to finance and risk management and improve cross ministry coordination and public private partnerships to improve policy making. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)