​By Aabigayle McIntosh

The government has pledged to provide the resources for the further expansion of the Agriculture program at the Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force (ABDF), as well as the Prison Farm.

ABDF Farm was established at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with pigs and goats, it has since blossomed into crop production with the yields supplying the main kitchen at the naval base in Coolidge and organizations like the Fienness Institute.

Chief of Defense Staff Colonel Talbert Benjamin explained that the overarching goal is to play a key role in contributing to the country’s food security, while at the same time ensuring that the ABDF does not rely too much on the government’s purse.

 “We ended 2023 with our crop production for that year exceeding in value over $50,000. A marked improvement for us in terms of our crop piece. The animal production piece, we have come, we have grown by leaps and bounds. For that, by the end of 2023, we had more than a dozen pieces of meat”, he said

The support that will be provided by the government includes the importation of livestock feed and sourcing fish pot wires, either locally or overseas.

Ambition for our piggery is that we are going to go for, by the end of this year, a hundred animals within our piggery itself. Similarly, we’re going to be doing the same thing for the herds of goats that we do have. In addition to that, we have just begun a robust program of replanting at our facility at Crabbs. In addition to that, we have just begun a robust program of replanting at our facility at Crabbs,” the head of the ABDF outlined.