Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter

Left: Yvonne Chin of E.C's Koconutz in St. Thomas explains the different types of honey to the Flair team on a tour of her farm in York, St. Thomas.   Right: Farmer Yvonne Chin checks if this jackfruit is ripe.

As a young girl, Yvonne Chin revelled in her life as a policeman/farmer's daughter. Born in York, St. Thomas, she inherited her love for farming from her old man and dreamed of having her own farm.

After attending the Queen's High School for girls in St. Andrew, she later enrolled in the University of the West Indies to study chemistry.

While there, she yearned for her farmland where, along with her father Henry Jarrett, she loved to plant various crops.

One year after entering UWI, Yvonne said goodbye to chemistry and embraced her love for farming when she married Eden Chin who was a sugar cane and dairy farmer.

Migrated

Life was good for Yvonne who, after marrying went on to have eight children.

In the late 1980s to early '90s, she travelled back and forth to the United States as her husband had migrated there.

However, life took a dark turn in 1993 when her husband was jailed on drug (marijuana) trafficking charges in the U.S.

Her farm in trouble and no man by her side, Yvonne was left to fend for herself and her eight children.

"I felt so down, I didn't know what to do. I moved back to my mother's house and she encouraged me," Mrs. Chin told Flair.

Her plight did not hinder her for too long as her brother-in-law who was retiring from his supermarket, encouraged her to take over the business that was located in Seaforth in the parish.

And she did. All was well again until 2000 when fire gutted the establishment. Left with the ashes, Mrs. Chin had to start all over.

"I felt lost again, but at the time, only two of my children were left in school so the older ones helped," she said.

But she was not going sit and depend on the goodness of her children to survive, and the enterprising Mrs. Chin brainstormed. What would be the next move? She quizzed herself and than the idea to make busta (the popular sweet), hit her.

She approached a community member who delivered bustas to her supermarket prior to the fire and he agreed to teach her how to make the well-loved Jamaican sweetie made from coconut and brown sugar. She was a good student but the idea of making money did not kick in.

"I was always giving them away and then somebody said to me, why not try selling it," Mrs. Chin explained.

This was almost five years ago. Today, Mrs. Chin is the proud owner of E.C's Koconutz, a factory she operates out of her backyard in York, St. Thomas.

"We started out selling to persons in the community and now we distribute to the Super Plus food chain, the Shoppers Fair food chain as well as other supermarkets," she told Flair.

The factory employs 11 persons including two of Mrs. Chin's children.

Despite the success with busta, Mrs. Chin continues to cultivate farm products. With one and a half acres, Mrs. Chin grows bananas, breadfruit, ginger, jackfruit and pineapple. These however are not for sale, but are shared with her employees and her family members.

She also manufactures other Jamaican favourites including gizzada, fruit wines and jams. Yvonne is a four-time gold medal winner in the Jamaican Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC) annual cuilinary arts festival.

Donation

In December last year, Mrs. Chin authorised Upliftment Jamaica, a non-government organisation in St. Thomas, to use 100 acres of her land in the community of White Horses in the parish for the development of agro-business.

According to her, agriculture is a great business that can lift persons out of poverty. The use of the land by the group, she said, will be beneficial to the community in the long run.

Yvonne Chin (standing), owner of E.C's Koconutz, manufactures the popular busta sweets; she assists Kay Dickson to pack a set.