4-H Ambassadors To Promote Agriculture Among The Youth

Montego Bay High School student Dre’anna Hill is the Jamaica 4-H Clubs Female Youth Ambassador for 2021.

She, as well as the Male Youth Ambassador, Manning’s School student Kriston Chambers, were selected at the recently held Jamaica 4-H Clubs virtual National Achievement Expo.

Dre’anna was introduced to agriculture at a young age as she searched for an alternative to her first love, sports.

“I’ve been in 4-H since my days at Mount Alvernia Prep, so it’s about six years now. I have always been interested in agriculture. It was something different because I am a very athletic person, so I was always into sports and other clubs, but 4-H was a way for me to learn more about agriculture, and I’m still learning,” Dre’anna stated.

“To be honest, I really like gardening. My entire family, we have a little backyard garden that we work on. I really like working around in the dirt, which I was never really fond of growing up, but 4-H has exposed me to the benefits of doing agriculture and small farming and gardening at home,” she added.

The 15-year-old student told JIS News that she feels very happy and grateful to have been chosen as this year’s youth ambassador.

“I know it’s a goal of every 4-H member to be chosen as boy and girl of the year, but now ambassador. It’s the first time entering the competition and I’m going against clubbites who are much older than me and have more experience and most likely have entered the competition before. So, to come out as a victor on the first try, I’m very elated,” she stated.

Dre’anna hopes to open her own restaurant and at the same time become an executive chef. She also has her eyes set on becoming an architect.

She is encouraging persons, especially young people, to change the way they view agriculture.

“It’s not about just the farming and waking up early in the morning. It’s about hard work and dedication, and that is what 4-H talks to us about and teaches us.  If they could think about the different sectors that are a part of agriculture, that will be something that could get more youth involved, by [including] more information technology… things that the youth can gravitate to,” Dre’anna Hill stated.

The 4-H Youth Ambassador (male and female) was previously known as the 4-H Boy and 4-H Girl of the Year Competition.

Public Relations and Marketing Manager at the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Karelle McCormack, told JIS News that the initiative was rebranded to its current designation as a means of attracting more youth entrants into the agricultural sector, by at least 15 per cent over the next four years.

“This is part of the key imperatives by the 4-H Clubs. These youngsters are, in fact, ambassadors of the organisation and represent the organisation in certain fora such as participating in youth-based activities, speaking on agricultural and agriculture-related topics,” Ms. McCormack said.

Regarding the selection of the youth ambassadors, she explains that representatives should be at least in their third year of enrolment in the 4-H Clubs and should have previously, at the parish level, competed twice in other competitive events prior to taking on the Youth Ambassador competition.

“It is open to Clubbites aged 15 years and older. Their tenure is for one year, and during that time it is expected that they [would] use their positions to encourage more youth into agriculture and to membership to the 4-H Clubs, be a spokesperson with permission from the organisation on pressing issues affecting youth in agriculture, looking at climate change [and] climate smart agriculture,” she said.

“They should also be very knowledgeable about the organisation and be prepared to be a part of and the face of 4-H Clubs marketing campaigns,” Ms. McCormack added.

The ambassadors, in addition to other prizes, received prize money of $1 million each, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

“This money is expected to be spent at least 60 per cent towards their educational pursuits, with the remainder towards an agricultural enterprise that they would be pursuing,” she informed.

Meanwhile, 4-H Youth Ambassador, Kriston, said he plans to make agriculture more attractive to young people.

“I plan on promoting the Club and getting more persons involved. Currently, there is a stigma that agriculture only is going outside and plucking chicken, just going to the farm at large, but, that’s not true. So as 4-H youth ambassador I want to break that stigma and allow for more youth to participate because there is a wide array and variety of careers that they can venture in,” he told JIS News.