This December 12, the Agribusiness Board Dominican (JAD) celebrates 40 years as the main entity that represents the agricultural producers in the country, bringing together more than 185,000 members.
Since its beginnings in 1984, the institution has encouraged professional development of farmers, ranchers and aquaculturists through technical assistancecommercial assistance, market identification, surveying services and project management, among other tasks.
Osmar Benitezexecutive president of the entity, highlighted Free Diary that has handled agricultural projects for more than 100 million dollars, always achieving the proposed goals for the benefit of the sectors for which they were designed.
“Upon reaching 40 years, the Board is consolidated as an entity that has achieved a solid image, as an institution of services in favor of agricultural producers in the country; it enjoys a very positive reputation for its work with multilateral organizations. and cooperation agencies of the main developed countries of the world”Executive President of the JAD
He defined the institution as a apolitical company who has had to work hand in hand with each of the administrations who have governed the country. “The philosophy of JAD is adding and multiplying, never subtracting or dividing,” he said.
Contributions over time
In its four decades, the JAD has contributed to growth and development of the agricultural sector Dominican, becoming the counterpart of the Government in the constant dialogue of public policies in favor of the agricultural sector.
As a result, the union has participated in the design of policies related to the agricultural creditthe land titlingthe health and safety of foodinnovation and technology transfer, as well as rural infrastructure.
During this period, he has managed more than 50 million dollars of international organizations and local agencies, developing a monitoring and evaluation system that allows donors and society to review the status of income and expenses monthly through its website.
Among his key contributions are:
- The facilitation of technical assistancethrough more than 4,500 national and international experts
- Installation of the Service Agricultural Laboratories most modern in the country
- The generation of tools financing and investmentlike the Agribusiness Bag of the Dominican Republic (BARD) –to support the marketing of food goods–, and the Agricultural Support Fund (Fondagro) –which has managed to channel microcredits to producers
- The creation of the first Agribusiness Information Center (Ciagro), a platform with the ability to report prices in real time since 1989. Today, this platform reports prices by messaging, via cell phone, to hundreds of farmers throughout the country
- The celebration of Agri-foodthe only international fair foodtobacco and beverages from the country, which has allowed more than 600 foreign investors to bring to the country, with purchases of more than 600 million dollars
- The reforestation of more than 25,000 forest tasks in the country’s watersheds throughout its Agrobusiness Reforestation Programan initiative that is part of the institution’s environmental social responsibility
The JAD was founded in 1984, when a group of agribusinessmen formed the “Joint Consulting and Co-investment Committee, Chapter of the Dominican Republic (JACC/RD), as part of a program supported with the technical and financial support of the Agency for the United States International Development (IAD). This was part of an initiative that sought the creation of private institutions that would contribute “to making the aid granted to developing countries more efficient and profitable for the promotion of joint investments.”Of the similar entities created in 11 countries in Latin America and Africa, only the JAD remains to this day, thanks to the contributions of national producers, who created the bases for its financial self-sufficiency.
Future plans
For the coming years, Benítez explained that the JAD will seek to continue contributing to the growth and development of agricultural sector.
He stressed that the institution’s work will be oriented, above all, five axes:
- Increase the supply and production of food at competitive prices, in order to contribute to the goal proposed by the Government of eradicating hunger by 2028
- Incorporate more than 3 million land tasks with an agricultural vocation to irrigation systems
- Prepare programs prevention and mitigation to protect national production against natural disasters
- Promote the dominicanization of the labour
- Design and implement strategies to increase the capitalization of agriculturethrough financing with public and private banking, the strengthening of agricultural insurance and the creation of a reinsurance fund for the sector
