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The Government remains involved in trading activities through a number of commodities boards and the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ). Commodities boards were established to monitor the quality of agricultural exports, including bananas, cocoa, coffee, and sugar (Section 4.1.2). Although their roles have been reduced over time, they still have regulatory powers and have become more involved in providing services. The PCJ was established in 1979 with the purpose of searching for oil and gas, and to be the lowest-cost provider of these products. Its current activities are mainly the purchase of petroleum, property management, and the search for alternative sources of energy.

The development of the agriculture sector has been constrained by inadequate infrastructure investment and natural disasters. Drought, as well as the lingering effects of hurricane Sandy in 2012, led to reductions in the sector's production and export earnings. Due to more favourable weather conditions, the sector experienced strong growth in 2016, when it expanded by 13.5% after declining in the 2013-15 period. In 2016, total production of domestic food crops (except cereals) increased significantly compared to previous years (Table 4.2).

The newly configured Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), which replaced the MOAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) in February 2016, is responsible for creating an enabling environment to develop industries, advance standards, ensure food security and safety, protect consumers, and foster social and inclusive economic development, through sustainable management of resources in commerce, industry, agriculture and fisheries. (...)

To guide the development of the agriculture sector, MICAF (Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries) drafted a number of policies, including the (...) National Organic Policy (...)

Table 4.4 Agriculture and fisheries expenditure for fiscal years 2015/16 and 2016/17
(J$'000)
(...)
Protection of biodiversity and landscape 22,045 110,427
(...)
Promotion of Community-Based Climate Resilience in the Fisheries Sector 12,939 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The Government prepared a Mining and Quarrying Sector Plan in 2009. The Plan articulated steps towards developing Jamaica's mineral sector into a world-class sector to increase the value of the nation's mineral resources through responsible environmental stewardship.

In 2014, steps were taken to draft a National Mineral Policy for Jamaica. The Ministry of Transportation and Mining is in the process of reviewing the document with expected submission to Cabinet in 2017. The Policy is said to establish the framework for sustainability within the mining sector, and creates the doorway for establishing an efficiently regulated sector that is able to contribute more significantly to national development with increased competitiveness in the global market. Among the primary objectives of the Policy are: a modernized mineral sector; increased efficiency; a stronger legislative and regulatory framework; and increased investment.

(...) The Medium-Term Socio-economic Policy Framework (MTF) 2015-2018 focuses on strengthening the institutional, legal and policy framework for energy production and diversification of energy resources, as well as the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation efforts.

The Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET) is responsible for, inter alia: encouraging private sector innovation in the energy sector; leading legal and regulatory reform; improving national energy efficiency and conservation; increasing the percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources, thus reducing dependence on imported fuels and increasing Jamaica's energy security; and issuing licences for various activities. The MSET issued a National Energy Policy 2009-2030, which identified priority areas such as improving energy supply security; modernizing the energy infrastructure; developing renewable energy; and promoting eco efficiency in industries. The MSET is preparing an Integrated Resource Plan, based on which a Generation Procurement Entity will procure additional generation capacity for the grid.

The Government has been making efforts to lower generation costs, which still depend on old, inefficient oil-fired generating plants, as well as to reduce the elevated levels of energy losses including from theft. Jamaica is contemplating a fuel diversification strategy which includes the replacement of aged and inefficient oil-fired baseload steam generating units with more modern and efficient generation facilities that would operate on natural gas. As part of the strategy, in 2015, Jamaica made provisions for the reconfiguration of the JPS Bogue Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Unit (114 MW) to enable it to operate on natural gas. This project was completed in December 2016. The Old Harbour Plant, which is petroleum based, generates up to 213.5 MW of electricity for the national grid. This more-than-40-year-old plant is being replaced with a new LNG-fired plant, which will generate up to 192.3 MW of electricity.