Industry experts are urging for increased awareness of the feasibility of the product and the adoption of measures that would expand production and satiate demand because Jamaica only supplies less than 1% of the worldwide castor oil market.
Pearnel Charles Jr., Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, asserts that the sector has a market value of over $100 million and has the potential to greatly increase the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) if domestic output rises and the export market remains strong.
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Speaking on March 15 at the Jamaica Bauxite Institute’s (JBI) Castor Bean Forum, with the theme “Black castor oil, liquid gold untapped,” at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville, Charles Jr said the event exemplified the type of agricultural strategic partnership required to tap into the castor oil industry more significantly.
Charles explained, “It is essential to understand how to do it, to utilize every acre of land, to find the best ways to extend the range of products, to find and refine the processing, to utilize research to our standard … What you are doing here today will be a greater part of the agriculture and fisheries contribution to GDP.”
The JBI, which is now launching its castor oil pilot project that will entail the cultivation and processing of castor beans in Calderwood, St. Ann, will be concentrating on creating a merger of the cottage industry, connecting farmers to processors and purchasers.
But Courtney Haughton, president of the Jamaica Castor Sector Association (JCIA), said that production must be raised by up to 100% if there is to be a vision of developing an economically sustainable agriculture-based industry from not just the castor seeds but also the entire plant.
He stated, “Jamaica has never exported US$500,000 worth of castor oil. It means that 99.99 percent of that global market is taken up by fake products … Cheap oil bought from India, and China with charcoal added to it and labeled product of Jamaica … The only way we can claw back what is ours is if we secure our intellectual property rights.”
According to Haughton, research is now being done to ensure quality assurance through the Bureau of Standards, among other entities, for market integrity, as well as capacity-building initiatives for farmers and processors. This is because there is no standard in the international market that recognizes genuine Jamaica black castor oil.
Haughton urged producers of castor oil to take advantage of the opportunities for guaranteed market access after entering various strategic collaborations with national and international organizations.
“I get approximately 10 calls per day from our partner JAMPRO (Jamaica Promotions Corporation) with persons from overseas who want to get in touch with people who can produce large volumes, container loads, 55-gallon drums of castor oil, but I cannot find anyone.”
According to the JCIA chairman, castor oil exports from the nation totaled US$185,000 in 2014, and they have been declining ever since.
“This is in a marketplace with a value of over US$100 million …We need to do something about that because the trend is worrying …Every single part of the plant has economic value and we need to tap into it because it is gold,” Haughton noted.
He continued, “Our industry has been built on wild harvesting and no industry can grow and sustain (itself) with that method. We must get into organized, large-scale seed production. There are many successful models that we can tap into. I am very glad that JBI has hosted this forum which shows their commitment to finding meaningful ways to make lands available to our farmers.”
Charles previously indicated that with a 19% budget increase, more money can now be invested in farmers while figuring out how to create public-private partnerships for sustainability.
“Last year, we received less than two percent of the budget and we were able to provide almost eight percent to GDP. Investing in agriculture, (and) in our farmers makes sense. I am happy we have received more this year for us to push agriculture. (It is) a 19 percent increase from the year before, and we will be calling for more,” he explained.
