BHTA Secures Major Grant for Bajan Harvest Hub Initiative
THE Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) has been awarded a landmark regional technical assistance grant from Compete Caribbean Plus (CC+) to develop its transformative Bajan Harvest Hub initiative, designed to strengthen agriculture-tourism linkages and enhance food security on the island. Greg Broomes, BHTA Operations Manager, explained that Bajan Harvest Hub emerged as one of only five projects across the Caribbean to receive funding under the programme, which is intended to increase the competitiveness of clusters and value chains, while integrating green innovation, climate resilience and environmental sustainability into their operations. Providing further details he noted, “Bajan Harvest Hub, a cluster development initiative executed in partnership with the Barbados Agricultural Society, with support from the Inter- American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, is designed to improve the tourism industry’s access to fresh, high-quality local produce on a consistent basis, build linkages between tourism and agriculture and ensure that the tourism dollar stretches as far as possible. “Currently we have nine hospitality enterprises including a mixture of hotels, restaurants and catering companies, slated to participate in the pilot project, which is essentially a business model built around a centralised, digitally enabled coordination mechanism to manage the supply of produce through packaging facilities from five local farmers in the first phase “This will be backed by ongoing demand assessments and supply agreements tailored to shifting demand and supply patterns throughout the year. The initiative will also increase the competitiveness of local farmers, while creating opportunities to substitute imports with locally grown produce. At the same time, it will also provide marketing opportunities for the tourism sector to sustainably create and leverage farm-to-table experiences.” Broomes added that another key feature of the project is the strong focus on inclusion through the advancement of comprehensive economic opportunities, particularly for small and vulnerable farmers, including women: “By pooling their produce with larger suppliers, farmers will gain market access that would otherwise be difficult to achieve independently. Additionally, by reinforcing agriculture-tourism linkages, Bajan Harvest Hub will enhance competitiveness by reducing reliance on imported produce while improving food security. This will not only augur well for both sectors but ultimately for the country as a whole, as the overall goal is to ensure that the benefits tourism brings to Barbados, expand throughout the entire economy.” The highly competitive Compete Caribbean + Cluster and Value Chain Grant Programme saw 46 applications from across the region, with Barbados’ Bajan Harvest Hub standing out for its innovative approach to coordinating the demand and supply of local produce to ensure reliability and consistency in the supply chain, while strengthening the resilience of local farmers and increasing the inclusion of women and the youth. Compete Caribbean + (CC+) is a private sector development programme jointly funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and the Government of Canada. (PR) Other bustiness and development stories: Click Here!
