- RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Nkrumah Green (left), livelihood officer at the Women's Resource and Outreach Centre, offers technical advice to St. Thomas-based poultry farmer, Conroy Brown.
TRAINED AGRICULTURALIST, Nkrumah Green, is paving the way for improved efficiency in the farm industry nationwide.
A farmer himself, he owns a farm in White Horses, St. Thomas, producing pumpkin, peppers, plantain, calaloo, sugarcane and tomato.
As a livelihood officer for the Kingston-based Women's Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC), Mr. Green travels the parishes of Clarendon, St. Mary, St. Thomas and St. Catherine.
He gives farmers technical advice to boost their husbandry practices (careful management and conservation of resources) and improve their production.
One simple piece of advice to farmers in Enfield, St. Mary, was to start growing on flat land, not the less fertile slope. The end result: higher productivity and higher profits. So high, said papaya and tomato farmer Brother Norday, that "I could for the first time take a vacation - to the United States."
SELF-SUFFICIENT PRODUCTION
He believes strongly that Jamaica can be self-sufficient in food production, and greater involvement of governmental and non-governmental organisations in giving technical assistance to small farmers.
"It's hard work, but I have a passion for working with grass roots people. I am satisfied that I have accomplished something in my humble way, through the implementation of projects to tackle poverty and migration in the rural areas I'm involved in.
"There is a large demand for freshly grown fruits and vegetables, since people are more health conscious.
"However, most of us have not been eating food in its natural state; and end up spending so much money on medication to deal with the discomfort of consuming imported processed food.
"Farmers need help because they are the backbone of this country. The further we get away from the land, the greater our insecurity (in terms of food supply). If the proper attention is given to this industry, it could become a very large source of employment for Jamaicans.
"This would go a far way in reducing crime in society. If agriculture was alive, there would not be an excess of people leaving rural Jamaica, searching for that better life in corporate Jamaica."
J. C.
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