Young farmer dreams big
PM’s youth awardee aims to expand regionally
Published:Tuesday | February 8, 2022 | 12:05 AMDavid Salmon/Gleaner Writer
WHEN then 22-year-old Kateisha Allen had her son in 2016, she was determined not to be the usual stay home mother. Little did she know at the time that her desire to support her family facilitated a journey of self-discovery.
Five years later, the 27 year-old is the recipient of the Prime Minister National Youth Award for Excellence in the category of agriculture and agro-processing.
While growing up in St Elizabeth, Allen took an interest in farming after observing her mother. From the tender age of 12, this interest has grown over the multiple years.
The effervescent young farmer told The Gleaner, “When I was a child, I used to plant little stuff around the yard, but the seriousness in agriculture came in 2016, when I planted pumpkin and with the yield that I received, I was surprised. That motivated me to go bigger and better into agriculture.”
A farmer by profession, Allen’s mother played a pivotal role in her life, serving as a source of inspiration, especially after the passing of Kateisha’s father while she was two years old.
Allen nurtured this interest in farming, with her son, Alex, being another reason to explore the field.
“After giving birth to my child, I decided to be a ‘stay home’ mom, but I did not just want to stay home not doing anything. I have a piece of land here and I just planted the pumpkin, not knowing anything about agriculture.”
She added that this is why she was completely flabbergasted when her plants yielded nearly 2,000 pounds of pumpkin in October of the same year. She sold over 1,000 pounds of pumpkin to the Black River Hospital, and the remaining amounts to higglers and members of her community.
“Going through my mind then after receiving that yield, I decided, hey, I can do this on a larger scale because I see where I can make money.” Since then, she started to plant crops like pineapple and sorrel, and her farm has grown to over five acres.
By 2018, Allen branched out into apiculture, which is her current love. Initially, she had one hive of bees for four years. However, in one year she got 21 quarts of honey. From this point on, her love for beekeeping grew wings. Since then, her farm has grown to 130 beehives, and she now employs two persons permanently and another five persons for honey extraction.
HONEY EXPORT
Impressively, the young farmer has also started to export honey after she launched her YouTube channel, St Bess Golden Honey Drops. Through her channel, which also happens to be the name of her company, Allen shares her journey with cultivating bees. She explained that persons started contacting her for honey when they saw her videos.
Farming has also provided an opportunity for her to bond with her now five-year-old son, who is always excited when she plants new crops. Her partner, who is also named Alex, actively plays a role on the farm, and he, too, uses this experience to bond with his son. The senior Alex has been a steady pillar of support for Allen since day one.
“He is behind me 100 per cent. Whatever assistance I need on the farm, he is always there. As it relates to the bees, when we started, equipment was an issue…” she explained.
“…So he stepped up to the game. He was not a carpenter, but he turned a carpenter and he started to build my bee equipment,” she said, while chuckling.
Allen shared that Alex’s wit has also been helpful in maintaining a positive mindset, despite adversities. Incidentally, one of her fondest memories on her farm occurred after some of her peppers were attacked by insects.
“When I went to my farm, some of the sweet peppers got cut down by insects and I started to grumble and murmur over it. Alex was like, ‘No, you can’t cuss over it, because when you go back you won’t see anything’; because they will come back and finish cut down everything,” the young lady said, while struggling to hold in laughter.
Allen also received assistance from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and Newport-Fersan (Jamaica) Limited, wherein the company provided mentors such as then NFJ team member Melvin Henry.
However, she has also had her own share of challenges from both Mother Nature and the hands of thieves. The passage of Tropical Storms Zeta and Eta in October and November 2020 resulted in tremendous damage that did not dampen her spirits. That year, Jamaican farmers lost $2.5 billion in crops, with Allen explaining that the heavy rains led to some of her sweet potatoes spoiling due to waterlogged fields.
Allen sighed as she also recalled a harrowing incident three months ago.“On my farm that I leased, I had a black tank, a 1000-gallon tank, and I left my field six o’ clock in the evening, and 8 o’ clock in the morning when I went back the black tank was gone,” she said.
However, she stated that staying motivated is not a challenge, as she has plans to expand her business throughout the Caribbean. Channelling her mother’s resilience, she said, “Agriculture has become my passion. It is something I love and it is something I enjoy. Looking back on what I have achieved over the years, this is not a setback for me. It motivated me to continue because in agriculture, giving up is not an option.”