Project 2:
Invest in the Future of Caribbean Agriculture:
Fresh and Processed Sweet Potatoes

Join us in the sustainable development of agriculture in Jamaica, creating jobs and wealth for Jamaican women and youth.

We invite you to be part of an exciting opportunity to contribute to revolutionising the sweet potato industry, supporting both fresh and processed sweet potato products. Your contribution will help female farmers and youth to establish sustainable, innovative, and community-driven sweet potato ventures that meet the growing domestic and global demand for healthy and versatile functional foods, while empowering and creating jobs within Jamaica’s rural communities.

Why Sweet Potato?

Sweet potato is more than just a staple food—it's a nutritional powerhouse, rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre, and antioxidants. This tuber is at the forefront of functional food innovation, as consumers worldwide seek healthier, plant-based, and gluten-free options, presenting several investment opportunities along segments of the industry value chain. The short growth period between planting and harvesting makes the sweet potato a cash-flow-enhancing crop suitable for small farmers.  

Our Project: From Farm to Table

Scope:
The Agridiscovery Foundation is launching a sweet potato production project in the central and Western parishes of Jamaica, aiming to supply, in the short to medium term, fresh and processed sweet potato chips and pudding. This initiative will serve as a model for promoting sustainable agriculture, rural economic development, and the creation of innovative functional foods.

What We Will Do:

• Support investment by Jamaican female farmers and youths in cultivating high-yielding, nutrient-rich sweet potatoes using sustainable farming methods. 

• Support women and young people in transforming sweet potatoes into products such as fries, flour, and puddings, sold to agri-food businesses and health-conscious end-users. 

• Support training opportunities for female farmers and youths within Jamaica’s rural communities. 

• Develop a transparent and scalable business model that can meet the increasing market demand for sweet potato products.

The Market Opportunity

• Explosive Market Growth: According to one market research entity, the global sweet potato market will reach a value of $59.6 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.10%.‌ [https://www.databridgemarketresearch] North America dominates the market, accounting for 40% of market revenue. 

• Product Innovation: The demand for sweet potato products, such as fries and puddings, is surging, driven by functional health food trends and social media-promulgated recipes.

• Local Premium: Local consumers will pay more for locally grown, safe, high-quality‌, fresh and branded sweet potato products. 

• Year-Round Demand: Fresh sweet potatoes enjoy year-round popularity in both local and export markets, with demand peaking during the holiday seasons. 

Challenges and Risk Mitigation 

• Access to finance, quality planting materials, disease, severe pest infestations, drought, rodents, labour availability, and the absence of effective methods for long-term storage and processing constrain the production, productivity, and marketability of sweet potato cultivation.
  
  

• Price volatility and competition from other starchy crops, such as yams and Irish potatoes, can limit expansion in price-sensitive markets. Export phytosanitary and food safety regulations also create challenges for exporters.
  
  

• Farmers, as clusters, can mitigate constraints and risks by sourcing crowd and development bank finance, collaborate with MOA regarding Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), [i.e. certified planting material, implementing crop rotation, and utilising integrated pest management, practising improved water, weed management, and food safety techniques], shared labour, monitoring market prices and using contract pricing arrangements, proper harvesting and storage and phytosanitary methods, and building/contracting appropriate processing facilities. 

How Your Support Makes a Difference

Your donation will, in the short to medium term, directly fund:

• Land preparation, planting material, and farming inputs that improve productivity and mitigate the negative impact of climate change.

• Training for female and young farmers and farmhands to improve their entrepreneurial abilities and productivity.

• Equipment for harvesting, post-harvest storage and processing of sweet potatoes into high-value products.

• Technical support in packaging, distribution, and marketing to reach local and export markets.

Every donation you make will support Jamaica’s female farmers and young people, helping them produce hundreds of kilograms of safe and nutritious food, while creating stable jobs, rural communities, and promoting national food security and increased export earnings.

Our Commitment to Transparency and Impact

Agridiscovery Foundation is committed to the principles of complete transparency and accountability. Donors will receive:

• Regular updates on project milestones, production output, harvests, beneficiary incomes, community impact and constraints encountered.

• Audited financial reports showing the use of donated funds.

• Stories and testimonials from female farmers and farm families, whose lives have changed because of your support.

• Crowdfunding rewards and other forms of recognition that depict the donor’s association with the project.

• Opportunities to interact with project beneficiaries. 

Be Part of the Solution

Your contribution is more than a donation—it’s an investment in increased prosperity and agricultural sustainability. Together, we can:

• Meet the rising demand for healthy, plant-based functional foods.

• Support the economic well-being of female small farmers and young people in Jamaica by creating entrepreneurial and job opportunities.

• Drive innovation in female and youth micro-enterprise food processing and product development.

• Build a model of sustainable agriculture in Jamaica that can be scaled up and replicated across the wider Caribbean region.

How to Give

• Donate online at Zeffy.com

• Share our story: Help us reach more supporters by sharing this campaign with your network.

• Become a champion: Start your own peer-to-peer fundraising page or host a community event to make a lasting impact.

Thank You!

Your generosity will help the Agridiscovery Foundation plant the seeds for a healthier, more sustainable future—one sweet potato at a time.

Donate today and join us in making a lasting impact!