Prime Minister and Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party leader Gaston Browne says the government is developing a new Central Marketing Corporation (CMC) complex aimed at reducing food imports, lowering prices and strengthening the country’s food security.
Speaking on Pointe FM’s Browne and Browne Show, Browne said the initiative will expand local food production and processing while also improving the supply of affordable goods.
“We have to prepare ourselves… to make sure that we can sustain ourselves and at the same time to make sure that we can produce good quality and affordable produce and meats,” Browne said.
The project centers on transforming CMC into what he described as a comprehensive “food emporium,” where farmers, vendors and consumers are connected through a single distribution and processing hub.
The government has already acquired the former Kennedy’s Club property at Cassada Gardens for $9 million, providing 5.5 acres for the development of the main complex.
“We have already bought the facility… it’s on five and a half acres,” Browne said.
The site will include a supermarket, farmers’ market, cold and dry storage facilities, and agro-processing units designed to handle locally grown produce and meats.
“CMC will have the necessary storage facilities… agro-processing facilities, cold storage, dry storage,” Browne said, adding that the system will allow farmers to bring their goods directly to market.
A key component of the plan involves expanding meat production and processing through new chicken and pork abattoirs at Piers, where construction is already underway.
“These abattoirs will be equipped… so we can cut up the chicken into parts and sell fresh chicken parts,” Browne said, noting that small farmers will also be able to use the facilities to process their livestock.
The government is also seeking to lower production costs by establishing a feed mill, which Browne said would reduce reliance on imported feed and make locally produced meat more competitive.
“We also will be establishing a feed mill… to drive down the costs,” he said.
In the short term, Browne said CMC is working with a supplier in the United Kingdom to import more affordable food products, with shipments expected within months.
“That should start within a matter of months,” he said.
Browne argued that the combined approach—boosting domestic production while sourcing cheaper imports—would help stabilize food prices and protect consumers from global price shocks, including rising tariffs in key markets.
“Imports continue to increase… and you never can tell,” he said, warning that external price pressures could worsen without local alternatives.
He said the expanded CMC system is intended to reduce the country’s import bill, improve foreign exchange balances and ensure a more reliable supply of food.
The prime minister pointed to his own agricultural operations as an example of how local production can be scaled, saying his farm produces about 150 pigs per month under modern standards.
“This is just going to be quite a beautiful food emporium… to accommodate our farmers and to have CMC import more produce and meats at an affordable price,” Browne said.
He described the initiative as part of a broader effort to modernize agriculture, support small businesses and improve living standards across Antigua and Barbuda.