The Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association says it will be investing $1 billion over the next five years to help boost Jamaica’s coffee production.

Speaking on MoneyMovesJa with Kalilah Reynolds, President of the association, Senator Norman Grant, said while the island’s coffee production is recovering there is still a far way to go.

Grant said the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns and supply chain issues caused a global slump in the coffee market.

He said that Jamaica’s coffee production slowed to under 180,000 boxes, which forced farmers to drop their prices to $3,000-$3,500 per box.

“The good news is that Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is very attractive,” the Senator said.

As restrictions eased, Grant noted that production has picked up with levels standing at 200,000 boxes this year. He also said that the price per box has increased with some farmers raking in $8,500 per box.

However, the Senator noted that during the slow-down many farmers left the industry, therefore, there is more room for the local industry to grow.

Grant said the association is partnering with the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) to provide $200 million for five years to grow the country’s coffee industry.

“We’re going to inject $1 billion into the Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee industry, with an aim to grow production from its current level of just about 200,000 boxes per annum to somewhere in the region of 450,000 per annum,” he said,

He said they hope to accomplish this by getting existing farmers to plant more coffee and their acres.

“A lot of the farmers now are below the 874 trees and what we purposed is to provide seedlings to existing coffee farmers so that they can increase their population of trees per acre,” he explained.

“Not only seedlings but also inputs, such as fertiliser, training and research help,” he added.

Grant said he hopes this new initiative will help attract new farmers to the industry, which will also help to boost production.