Bahamas News
ADO Tours Lucayan Produce, Farming support NGO continues fact-finding mission to explore what works
#TheBahamas, May 2, 2022 – Farms, like just about everything else, come in all sizes and shapes. And like other items that come in various forms, what works for one may not work for all.
“That’s what we are learning as we go along,” says Philip Smith, Executive Chairman of the Agricultural
Development Organization, the recently launched non-government organization formed to support farming and the culture of self-sustaining food security. “While it is evident that there is a huge difference in resources and production capabilities between a mass production facility like Lucayan Tropical Produce and a backyard farmer in Cat Island, what is most interesting to us is how we can learn from both and help each other.”
Learning prompted a tour of Lucayan Tropical Produce, an impressive 20,000 square meters of greenery, soil, plants, shade houses, refrigeration, boilers, equipment, endless rows of cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes and one element that is harder to replace – perseverance.
“We started in the fourth quarter of 2006 and it took us over 10 years to begin to get it right,” explained Tropical Produce President Cameron Symonette, with a hands-on approach and knowledge of everything from the value of a fistful of seeds to what reverse osmosis does to the environment.
The most surprising lesson they learned was how dynamic agriculture versus other traditional manufacturing businesses were, what Symonette and his father, Craig, a director of the company, call “the continuous puruist of a happy plant, one that wants to produce.”
“We changed systems and management four times and kept trying to get it right,” says the younger Symonette. “We felt we could produce 100% of the market needs for cucumbers and 100% of the island of New Providence’s need for Bahamian tomatoes but it just wasn’t happening.”
What stood in the way was lack of a significance difference between night and day temperatures.
“Under good farming conditions, a plant stresses every day in the heat and relaxes at night,” says the company president. “In The Bahamas, there is little difference between night and day so the plant is stressed most of the time given the rolling average of difference being so small. It took us a long time to figure that out, to figure out what made the happy plant.”
Now, with strictly controlled temperatures, constant refrigerated trucking and a new closed loop temperature controlled chill house under intense lighting, the lettuce Lucayan Tropical Produce turns out is heartier and is proving to have a longer shelf life than other products available in the marketplace, says Symonette. Thanks to the new indoor growing system, the company is able to produce lettuce year-round. Despite growing up to five varieties of tomatoes, the extreme summer heat puts a halt to that production.
Lucayan Tropical supplies about 65% of the cucumber market with both slender European cucumbers and traditional.
For ADO director Karen Casey, the visit to Lucayan Tropical Produce off the beaten path in western New Providence was affirmation of what founders of the relatively new NGO suspected.
“It takes a tremendous investment to create a massive scale successful farm in The Bahamas,” said Casey, president of Sysco Bahamas, the largest wholesaler of food in the country. “It reinforces our need to focus on cooperative crop planting and we are extremely grateful that the Symonettes have offered to help us in that.”
Smith said the happy plant and other lessons would be helpful to farmers throughout The Bahamas.
“Craig and Cameron shared 16 years of experience with us, experience we can take back to workshops on community farming, backyard and schoolyard farming,” said Smith. “This has been an incredibly valuable tour.”
ADO was formed in early January with a $1.1 million grant from FTX, the first large gift awarded by the giant blockchain trading platform after opening its headquarters in The Bahamas. FTX CEO Ryan Salome serves on the steering committee along with Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley, businessman and former Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Karen Casey and Smith, who is the former executive director of the Bahamas Feeding Network. More than a dozen community and civic leaders serve on various committees.
Release: Agriculture Development Organization
Photo Captions:
Header: Fact-finding tour – Lucayan Tropical Produce President Cameron Symonette explains benefits of sharp changes in night and day temperature for healthy ‘happy’ plants to visitors from the new food security NGO Agricultural Development Organization. Picture l-r, ADO directors Diane Phillips, Executive Chairman Philip Smith, Sysco Bahamas President Karen Casey and in background next to Symonette, Craig Symonette who founded Lucayan Tropical in 2006.
1st insert: Agricultural Development Organization (ADO) director and president of Sysco Bahamas Karen Casey talks tomatoes with Lucayan Tropical Produce. ADO was formed to make self-sustaining food supply a reality for The Bahamas.
2nd insert: A world of cucumbers – Lucayan Tropical Produce supplies about 65% of the local demand for cucumbers, growing European and standard varieties under these leafy greens. ADO toured Lucayan Tropical recently as part of a 3-month fact-finding tour to gather information helpful to farmers throughout The Bahamas at all levels from backyard to community and beyond.
Bahamas News
Next U.S. Ambassador? Walker Pledges Business-Driven Approach as U.S. Looks to Counter China in The Bahamas
Deandrea Hamilton | Editor
The Bahamas, September 16, 2025 – For the first time since 2011, the United States is on the cusp of sending an ambassador to The Bahamas — and the nominee, former football star turned entrepreneur Herschel Walker, is promising to bring his business instincts to the diplomatic table.
Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Walker underscored that his background in food-service companies and small business leadership has prepared him to think practically about investment. “I know how to run a business, how to create jobs, how to make payroll. Those lessons translate into building relationships and building trust,” Walker said.
Walker, who was nominated by President Trump in December 2024, faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 11. As of now, he has not yet been confirmed; his nomination remains under review, pending a committee vote before it can move to the full Senate. If approved, he would become the first U.S. ambassador to The Bahamas since 2011.
For years, U.S. officials have stressed security and counternarcotics cooperation with The Bahamas, including through “Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos.” But in areas like infrastructure, medical care, and long-term investment, Washington has often been absent.
Hospitals and clinics remain under-resourced, and hurricane recovery has been slow in many islands. Chinese state-backed firms, by contrast, have shown up with financing packages and construction deals — a presence that has raised alarms on Capitol Hill.
“Only 50 miles off our shore, The Bahamas is too important for us to ignore,” warned Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders during Walker’s hearing. They called China’s inroads “strategic, not charitable,” suggesting Beijing’s long game is about ports, proximity, and political leverage.
Walker positioned himself as a nontraditional but pragmatic envoy. He argued that his business career, rooted in private sector success, equips him to champion American investment in The Bahamas.
He pledged to:
- Promote U.S. companies interested in medical and infrastructure projects.
- Support an environment that encourages American investors to see The Bahamas as more than just a beach destination.
- Highlight opportunities for partnerships that improve public services, healthcare, and resilience against hurricanes.
“I’ve built businesses. I know what it takes to attract investors and create opportunity. That is exactly what I intend to bring to our relationship with The Bahamas,” Walker said.
The Bahamas is not just a tourist paradise. It’s a frontline state in migration, drug interdiction, and hurricane response. More than six
million U.S. visitors travel there annually, making stability and safety a U.S. domestic concern as much as a foreign policy one.
And yet, with the ambassador post vacant for 14 years, the U.S. has often looked detached — opening space for China’s ambitious Belt and Road agenda. The fear is that infrastructure deals signed today could give Beijing leverage in the region tomorrow. Walker’s confirmation would symbolize a course correction, signaling Washington’s intent to re-engage not only in security but in the economic future of The Bahamas. Not everyone is convinced Herschel Walker is the right man for the job. His nomination revived controversies from his 2022 Senate run, including past allegations, public gaffes, and doubts about whether he has the diplomatic polish the post demands. Some senators and analysts questioned whether celebrity and business experience were enough for a role requiring nuance in foreign policy and geopolitics.
Critics argued that The Bahamas, sitting just 50 miles from Florida and facing intense Chinese interest, deserves a seasoned diplomat rather than a political ally.
Walker confronted those doubts head-on. “People have underestimated me all my life — in academics, athletics, and business,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “And I have always proven them wrong, through discipline, determination, and by outworking everyone.”
He admitted he had never served as an ambassador but countered that his career prepared him in other ways: building businesses, managing payrolls, and connecting with people from all walks of life. He framed his business background as a strength, promising to use it to encourage U.S. investment in healthcare, infrastructure, and hurricane resilience projects in The Bahamas.
Rather than sparring with critics, Walker leaned on confidence and persistence: “I know how to build trust and find common ground. That’s what this relationship needs.”
If confirmed, Walker would have to balance his role as diplomat with expectations of being a commercial cheerleader for U.S. firms. His emphasis on entrepreneurship suggests a willingness to push U.S. businesses toward opportunities in healthcare, ports, and post-storm reconstruction — areas where Bahamians say they need the most support.
For Bahamian officials, the question will be whether Washington is prepared to back words with financing. U.S. private sector dollars, paired with aid and development partnerships, could help shift the tide against Chinese influence.
For Walker, the test will be whether his business acumen can translate into diplomatic wins — giving Bahamians alternatives to Beijing, while deepening the U.S. role in the Caribbean.
Analysis: If Walker delivers, this appointment could mark a turning point: a U.S. strategy that recognizes that in the Caribbean, investment is diplomacy.
The Bahamas, September 10, 2025 – Rescue swimmers from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Aviation Training Center in
Mobile, Alabama visited Nassau to train Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) and Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) members in water survival skills as part of Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) earlier this week.
“Training alongside our USCG partners ensures our personnel are best prepared for the unique challenges of joint operations” said Superintendent Wendy Pearson, Commander Drug Enforcement Unit.
The multi-day exercise, centered on the USCG’s Shallow Water Egress Training (SWET), enhanced the safety and preparedness of Bahamian partners who routinely operate aboard USCG helicopters during OPBAT missions. The exercise provided hands-on instruction for 31 participants and strengthened interoperability between U.S. and Bahamian agencies engaged in counter-drug, search and rescue, and maritime security operations throughout the region.
“We were excited and proud to have the opportunity to share our expertise with our Bahamian partners. Not only did RBDF and RBPF
perform exceptionally well, they exceeded the standards we set for the event,” said Petty Officer Second Class Cole Johnson, USCG.
OPBAT is a cooperative multi-agency international operation supporting The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands to stop illicit drug smuggling through the region. U.S. Embassy Nassau Chargé d’affaires Kimberly Furnish stated, “Since 1982, OPBAT has worked to stop the flow of illicit narcotics through the Caribbean, destined for the United States or other jurisdictions. This is international cooperation at its best.”
