Minister of Agriculture Israel Bruce says traditional growers of marijuana must be placed at the centre of the development of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ medicinal cannabis industry.
Bruce, who is also minister of forestry and rural transformation, insisted that the sector’s growth must translate into meaningful economic opportunities for Vincentians.
Addressing the CannaBiz SVG Festival 2026 in Kingstown, under the theme “Cultivating Strategic Partnerships for Cooperation and Trade”, Bruce emphasised that the country’s traditional cultivators must be recognised not merely for their historical contribution, but as potential partners in the industry’s future.
“We must not allow the people who carried the industry through its difficult years to become spectators in its successful years,” Bruce said.
The minister called for stronger organisation among traditional cultivators, improved access to financing, appropriate agricultural insurance, enhanced technical training and commercially viable partnerships between local farmers and licensed cannabis enterprises.
He pointed to the importance of cultivators organising themselves into a representative national association, enabling them to engage more effectively with government, regulators, financial institutions and established industry players.
Bruce also highlighted the proposed National Development Bank as a potential avenue for expanding access to financing for viable agricultural enterprises seeking to participate in the regulated industry.
“If we want our farmers to enter the formal economy, we must make the formal economy more accessible to our farmers,” the minister stated.
He urged licensed businesses, including CANA SVG, Medicinal and other industry participants, to explore transparent and commercially sound arrangements that connect local cultivators to legitimate supply chains, processing opportunities, technical expertise and markets.
The minister underscored that the industry’s success must be measured not only by investment and commercial expansion, but also by the opportunities it creates for local producers, the skills it develops, the employment it generates and the value retained within the Vincentian economy.
He further emphasised the importance of maintaining regulatory compliance, product quality, traceability and public health safeguards as St. Vincent and the Grenadines pursues opportunities in medicinal cannabis.
Bruce identified five priorities for continued stakeholder engagement: strengthening cultivator organisation and representation; improving access to financing and risk protection; expanding technical training; developing partnerships between cultivators
and licensed enterprises; and strengthening the connections between local production, value-added processing, research and legitimate markets.
“We must not simply cultivate cannabis. We must cultivate opportunity,” Bruce said, calling on government, industry, financial institutions, researchers and cultivators to work together towards a more inclusive and sustainable sector.
The CannaBiz SVG Festival 2026 was hosted by the Medicinal Cannabis Authority of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from Thursday to Saturday.
The programme included a medicinal cannabis conference, a trade exhibition and expo, and a National Youth Symposium focused on substance misuse prevention, mental health, resilience and healthy decision-making.