Speech
Andrew Holness  ·  2026-08-17 17:12

The Denbigh Agricultural Show Is Celebration of AgricultureIn Jamaica

Denbigh is a celebration of agriculture in Jamaica. It coincides with our Emancipendence period. Now, for those of you who are students of our emancipation, a large part of that was the independence of the newly freed Jamaicans and how they managed to survive after slavery, having left the plantation. So, our emancipation, our journey, is also a journey about agriculture contributing to our independence. Because remember now, our slavery economy was built on a particular kind of agriculture, a monocrop of sugar. It was built on an exploitation of not cheap, but free labor. And that's how we used to survive, and I say we, the collective us, under enslavement. Upon emancipation, we left the plantation, and we sought to find lands to get our real independence through agriculture, because that was the only thing that we could do. So, I want you to make the connection why we celebrate agriculture in Jamaica and we celebrate our emancipation. What was the main economic activity of the free villages? What was the main economic activity of those who left the plantation, they went to find a little piece of land to plant, to survive. So, agriculture is about our independence. It is about our survival. It is a part of our struggle for economic independence. It is critical to us as a nation. So, as I said to some members of the diplomatic corps who were with us, that what you're going to see today is the culture in agriculture.