In its thrust to prioritize food security, reduce the country’s vulnerability to rising prices and grow more of our food on the home front, the Government is making substantial and important new investments in developing agriculture.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Philip Davis revealed during the 2025/26 Budget Communication in Parliament on May 28, 2025 a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing to construct five hydroponic farms in the Family Islands and the capital to mitigate the high cost of living and the global inflation crisis.
“This past week, we signed an MOU to construct five hydroponic farms in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros, and Cat Island as we embrace modern farming techniques that can provide healthy produce to even our most remote islands,” Prime Minister Davis said.
“Additionally, BAMSI is expanding its academic mission with 302 enrolled students and strategic partnerships with Prairie View A&M, Athens State, and Stanford University, providing the youth of The Bahamas with world-class educational opportunities.
“Of course, we are ensuring that scholarships are available for those who wish to launch careers in Agriculture and Marine Sciences.
“Overall, we are increasing support to farmers by 200% and expanding the overall agriculture budget from $25 million to $35 million,” he said.
With its expansion of grants to Bahamians, the Government’s goal is to create a new wave of successful Bahamian entrepreneurs, keep more Bahamian dollars inside the country and lower prices for families.
“We want both small-scale operations and larger food production companies – run and operated by Bahamians – to become much bigger players in our country and the region. Twenty-first century farming does not look like the old days – this is big business,” Prime Minister Davis said.
With food security an important national priority, the Prime Minister added that the new Centre for Food and Nutrition Security will serve as a multi-disciplinary technical hub, advancing national food and nutrition security through cutting-edge research, policy development, innovation and community-based initiatives.
In the upcoming year, the centre will lead a series of transformative initiatives to strengthen national resilience and food sovereignty, which will include establishing urban farms and community food hubs to increase local food access, promote self-reliance and support neighborhood-based food systems.
It will also address health-related challenges linked to food insecurity; train farmers in climate-smart agriculture practices to enhance productivity while promoting environmental sustainability and resilience to climate change; and establish seed banks and promote native crop varieties to preserve biodiversity, ensure seed availability and support culturally appropriate food systems.
Prime Minister Davis noted that over the past year, his administration has transformed the country’s agricultural and marine sectors through decisive action and strategic investment.
“We launched our National Layer and Piggery Programme, distributing over 10,000 chicks and 3,000 adult chickens. We also equipped farmers across Cat Island, Exuma and Acklins with tractors and other essential equipment,” he said.
The Golden Yolk Project, another major investment of the Government, has a large role to play in its plans for food security.
“We are investing $9 million in the construction of pullet buildings capable of housing 25,000 chicks, dual layer houses for 20,000 hens and an egg processing facility with capacity to process 8,000 eggs per hour,” Prime Minister Davis said
By LEDEDRA MARCHE/Bahamas Information Services
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