Trees are pivotal to sustaining life. They provide a home for many animals, stabilise the soil, store carbon dioxide and provide oxygen, which is vital for all life forms. It is against this background that the Forestry Department remains focused on maintaining trees in Jamaica’s forest reserves through, among other things, its ‘Adopt-a-Hillside’ Programme. The agency’s Manager for Strategic Corporate...

The Jamaica 4-H Clubs is celebrating 79 years of engaging young Jamaicans in the business of agriculture. Established in 1940, the organisation, which falls under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, is mandated to provide skills training for young people aged five to 25. Areas of training include agriculture, home economics, leadership, social skills, entrepreneurship, healthy lifestyles, and...

President and Founder of Elliot Farmers Community Enterprise in St. Mary, Marvalee Tomlinson Russell, is on a mission to transform and empower unemployed women living in the Parish, through training in greenhouse farming. Mrs. Tomlinson Russell, believes agriculture is one of the best solutions for women living in rural areas to achieve independence. “We started this initiative to help women....

Principal, Dinthill Technical High School in Linstead, St. Catherine, Monica White, says all schools across Jamaica should have in place a sustainable agriculture programme. She notes that the agriculture programme at her school not only provides skills training for students but also supplies produce to local markets and a hotel. “All we do is centred on agriculture. We have lettuce,...

Carron Hall High School in St. Mary now has one of Jamaica’s premier biodigesters, donated by The Scientific Research Council (SRC), in partnership with Digicel Foundation, Food For the Poor Jamaica, American Friends of Jamaica and Caribbean Broilers Group Limited. The biodigester was constructed to the dimension of 20 cubic metres, a measurement that will effectively treat the waste of...

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries implemented several programmes that led to consistency of supplies, sustainable incomes for farmers and entrepreneurs and facilitated strong growth in the sector. AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES Farm Road Rehabilitation • $800 million was allocated to improve the farm road network. This project, being implemented by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), aims to...

The decision to be separated from his heavily pregnant girlfriend for eight months is not an easy task for first-time farmworker, Jermaine Wilson. This is further compounded by the fact that he will not be present for the birth of his first child later this month. Despite the apprehension, Mr. Wilson is reassured by the fact that his absence means...

Recipient of the Jamaica Diaspora Agriculture Taskforce’s (JDAT) initial Investor Circle micro grants, Patricia Parchment, plans to venture into commercial bee farming. Ms. Parchment, who is currently involved in the harvesting and bottling of honey as well as the manufacturing of lotions and hair oils, is looking to get into large-scale Queen Bee rearing and beeswax production. She tells JIS...

After leaving her full-time job at Up Park Camp each day where she works as a dental hygienist, 28-year-old Sabrina Smith heads to her farm in Seaview Gardens, Kingston, where farmers and farm lands are few. Mrs. Smith, a University of Technology (UTech) graduate, shares a meagre plot of land with five other male livestock farmers. “If I could leave...