A beneficiary of Food For the Poor's REAP programme showcases produce growing on his farm. - contributed

Food For The Poor and the United States Depart-ment of Agriculture (USDA) have been involved in a joint effort to revitalise the Jamaican agricultural sector. The Rural Economic Agricultural Programme (REAP), now entering its third year, is a major agricultural stimulation develop-ment programme in Jamaica.

The REAP programme provides assistance to 60,000 small farming families in the 14 parishes of Jamaica. The renewed farming interest is already evident in 750 primary schools.

"The REAP programme, with its combination of food assistance, agricultural development and education in the latest agricultural techniques, has empowered farming families to experience greater success and provide for their own livelihood," said Robin Mahfood, president of Food For The Poor. He said the REAP programme, "will enable approximately 300,000 Jamaicans to become more self-sufficient."

The REAP programme provides advanced agricultural business training to increase production of cash crops for local and export markets and food security. Training seminars teach beneficiaries to improve production, crop diversifi-cation and marketing techniques in the growing of flowers, herbs, fruits, cucumber, pepper (hot and sweet), pak-choi, callaloo, lettuce, beans, tomato, okra, scallions, corn and cabbage.

Technical monitoring

Model garden plots are esta-blished and beneficiaries are given the necessary farm tools, food, seeds, training, agronomic advice and technical monitoring in-cluding, soil testing. Food is provided to REAP participants for several reasons. The donated food acts as a motivation to attend classes and provides families with extra savings that can be invested into their farming enterprise.

A sustainable income for the beneficiaries has been created through partnerships with the Jamaica Exporters Association, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, and private agro-processors. With an established system of marketing, there is greater profit to small farmers, an increase in employment for young people in food processing and packaging, reduction in rural and urban drift, and an overall improvement in the standard of living for the rural small farmers, and inner city dwellers.

The REAP programme has helped normalise the price of vegetables due to the local increase in production and diversification. There has been an increase in vegetable production, especially tomatoes and cucumbers.

Participation from women

A greater than expected participation from women in the agricultural production of vege-tables and flowers has been seen. The attitudes of school children towards agriculture have shifted as students are taught basic vegetable gardening and agricultural tech-niques. Each school is responsible to grow one vegetable garden and use the vegetables to complement the school food basket. Small rural and backyard farmers have started to earn more and make a better living.

Great success stories for REAP happen in unusual places. The Tamarind Farms prison has experienced fantastic agricultural results. The REAP programme has enabled the prison to become almost completely self-sufficient in the production of vegetables.

A smaller side-project of the REAP programme is the develop-ment of goat farms. The goat farms have been more successful in the rural communities. Requests to start poultry and honey bee farms have also been submitted.

Food For The Poor is the third-largest international relief and development organisation in Jamaica.