JCPD wants people with disabilities to become players in agric sector

Western Bureau:

Racquel Artwell, the manager of policy, research and policy management at the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), is calling for people with disabilities to be treated as economic players rather than welfare recipients, arguing that with financing and training they could become a part of the agricultural landscape.

According to Artwell, based on the council’s experience with its Economic Empowerment Grant Programme, it demonstrates the potential for agriculture to improve the livelihoods of persons with disabilities.

“What we found, for example, with our issuing or disbursement of grants to persons with disabilities going into agriculture, is that it really has improved their standard of living,” she said, while speaking during a panel discussion at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture event earlier this week. “Agriculture is not charity; agriculture is business.”

Artwell said the JCPD is not a production agency, but its mandate includes helping to create pathways for persons with disabilities to participate in agriculture, agro-processing and other entrepreneurial activities.

CHALLENGED BY SOCIETAL BARRIERS

She said the major challenge is often not the disability itself, but the barriers created by society.

“What we need to do, whether it’s a barrier in education, whether it’s a barrier in training, whether it’s a barrier in health, [is] that we do what needs to be done to remove those barriers,” she said.

Artwell argued that dismantling the barriers would allow persons with disabilities to contribute more fully as producers, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders in agriculture and fisheries.

“We continue to ground all our advocacy, all our programmes that we implement, particularly our grants disbursement programme called the Economic Empowerment Grant Programme, to help address some of the barriers that exist,” she added.

Through its Economic Empowerment Grant Programme, the JCPD provides financial support to persons with disabilities seeking to establish or strengthen income-generating activities, including agriculture and agro-processing, as part of a broader push to move beneficiaries from dependence on welfare towards economic participation.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com