A worsening problem of monkey raids on farms is pushing agricultural authorities to explore regional collaboration and artificial intelligence solutions, as Minister of Agriculture Dr Shantal Munro-Knight acknowledged there is no quick fix for the growing losses faced by farmers.

Crop theft and monkeys are longstanding challenges in farming and will not be resolved overnight, she told reporters at the ministry’s Graeme Hall headquarters on Wednesday.

“Praedial larceny is one of them, monkeys is another but these are things that are — I’m going to use the word systemic — that plagued the sector for quite a long time and are not going to be easy things to address in one shot.”