RYEEP Takes Tricia Smith Closer to Agritourism Dream

It was only after seeing her husband turn a profit from a harvest of Scotch bonnet peppers that St. Ann native, Tricia Smith, decided to take farming seriously.

Growing up, she had witnessed her father toiling away on the four-acre property in Claremont, where she now resides with her husband, with very little reward for his efforts, and was discouraged by the experience.

“My husband planted some hot pepper and when he reaped one of his harvests, it was my monthly salary when he sold it. I said, ‘so if he’s doing that, then I could try and do something as well’,” Mrs. Smith relates to JIS News.

Unfortunately, she did not achieve the same results due to a lack of labour, capital, drought conditions and other issues.

“I lost a lot of money from buying the seedlings and planting them out. They did not come because I didn’t have any irrigation, so they dried up. The terrain that I have is very rocky; it’s hill and mostly limestone so, I lost a lot of money in that,” the 25-year-old laments.

Rather than giving up, Mrs. Smith decided to seek assistance through the Rural Youth Economic Empowerment Programme (RYEEP), with a renewed goal of using the family farm for agritourism.

RYEEP is a six-month entrepreneurial training programme under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, which is organised by the Jamaica 4-H Clubs in partnership with the HEART/NSTA Trust.

Mrs. Smith was a part of the September 2024 to February 2025 cohort and from the training received, she feels more confident in attaining her goals.

“I’m in a phase now where I’m pivoting. I am looking at doing a nursery because I had constructed one, but I had not intended to use it to sell seedlings.

“I wanted to use it to start off my plants and then plant them out, but I don’t have the support and capital is very low. So, I am considering now to turn that into a nursery where I’ll be selling the seedlings because there’s a great market for it,” she tells JIS News.

The mom of twins adds that she plans to offer employment to a mother in her community of Claremont, St. Ann, to assist in the nursery.

But this is just the start for Mrs. Smith. Her ambition is to transform the four-acre family farm into an oasis for tourists who want to experience the rural side of Jamaica.

“As a child, I always wanted to build a bed and breakfast or something on the property and have persons stay there. In St. Ann there is a lot of tourism. Ocho Rios is right up the road and I’m not aware of any agritourism farms [in the parish]. So, now I’m thinking of actualising that dream,” Mrs. Smith says.

The build out of the property will consist of a cabin, including a spa and pool, where visitors will stay, a restaurant that serves food grown on the farm, and an area, created out of recycled materials, for holding events such as parties and weddings.

For the farming aspect, Mrs. Smith tells JIS News that she intends to use aquaponics and instal concrete grow beds for plants.

She also plans to build an in-ground tank that will be used to irrigate the farm and run the property.

Mrs. Smith reveals that with the training she received from RYEEP she has already started speaking to investors about the nursery, making her one step closer to her dream.

“I’ve started discussions with an investor and the feedback from the documents I presented has been good. She was asking who assisted me to prepare them because they were very professional and very well done and I told her that I had received training… so I did them myself,” she proudly tells JIS News.

She notes that the training has built her confidence and she will be pursuing other workshops.

Mrs. Smith is encouraging other young people to take advantage of RYEEP.

“Most definitely, they need to sign up because for one thing – the training is free. You’re basically being paid to train since you’re provided with a stipend and the transportation is paid for. You are receiving knowledge on not only crop production or animal production but whatever area you choose whether it is apiculture or agro-processing,” she points out.

Mrs. Smith says the training also involves business development coaching, which can be used in areas outside of agriculture; training in marketing, stress management and other areas that an entrepreneur would need to succeed in a business.

“We are also exposed to a network of like-minded individuals. The information that they provide you and the people that they connect you with can be so invaluable. So, it is a win-win all around. It’s not something you’re paying for and at the end of it, you’re being certified in whatever area you are in, so it’s an excellent opportunity,” Mrs. Smith tells JIS News.