Watt Town farmers want a bigger piece of the pie

FARMERS WHO have been benefiting from the Water Harvesting and Greenhouse Cluster Project in Watt Town, St Ann, are disheartened that after almost seven years since the initiative started, there has not been worthwhile profit generation.

Watt Town was one of three St Ann communities to benefit from the Water Harvesting Cluster Greenhouse Project, which is supported in partnership with Noranda Bauxite Jamaica Limited by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI).

HOTTEST CROPS

The construction of 22 greenhouses provided 20 farmers – 11 women and nine men in the area – with employment opportunities to farm on mined-out fields for greenhouse and open-field cultivation, contributing to long-term rural development and life after bauxite mining.

Other greenhouses can be found in Schwallenburgh and Nine Miles, St Ann.

The project also facilitates the conversion of mined-out pits into water storage ponds for irrigation water during droughts.

However, with a rise in concern that the cost of living continues to climb with growing numbers of Jamaicans finding it difficult to buy food, some farmers in the project have sought for alternative ways to earn their living so that they may adequately care for themselves and their families.

Louise Lawrence, the leader of the Watt Town Greenhouse Farmers Group, explained that the hottest crops on the market are tomatoes and sweet pepper but the group has recently been rotating the crops, giving the greenhouses a break from its usual production to produce instead broccoli and cauliflower while also tending to the cabbages in the fields.

Hubert Parkes, one of the farmers on the project, admitted that he had hoped that more money would be streaming in by now, years after the programme’s inception.

“We thought we would be better off in the greenhouse system by [now]...we produce a lot out of the house, but we not getting the price,” he noted, adding that one of the biggest challenges for the group is getting their desired price for their hard labour.

Parkes added that with so much time invested in the project, he hoped to “park the donkey” sooner, meaning that he intended to get a car so he could travel to and from the farming location more easily.

“[But] all now we cah buy a likkle car,” he exclaimed, as monthly income generated usually span between $30,000 to $50,000 per month, which is before each farmer has to contribute 30 per cent of their earnings back into the project.

This money is handled by the leader who supplies fertilisers, seedlings and other necessities to ensure the project’s sustainability as the farmers are operated as a cooperative and is not run by the JSIF or the JBI, but within their own community governance, said Omar Sweeney, managing director of JSIF.

SOME DISCOURAGEMENT

“When [the produce] sell and come back and [you] tally up your money and stuff like that, it nuh deh-deh, you know, ... but it still can go on ‘cause you can get a bread here and there and put it together,” he said of the project, which has still helped him to some degree.

Nonetheless, Parkes has not given up. He has endeavoured to continue on the journey though sometimes he has felt some discouragement along the way.

Another farmer, who requested anonymity, explained that as a single mother of three children, the project does not pay much, where she, too, has had to boost her income by cultivating crops such as yam and sweet potatoes for other markets.

“I think the buyers are too cheap,” she remarked, as she and others have expressed concern that their buyers are depriving them of substantial profitability, wanting to purchase the broccoli and cauliflower they produce for as little as $80 to $120 per pound, while it is being sold for up to $400 per pound in the markets.

“If we had gotten this greenhouse for ourselves and we are doing our own thing, we wouldn’t have accepted that little bit. But I guess because it is coming from a third party so we have to accept what we get and it’s very unfair,” she lamented.

The 20 farmers have been growing vegetables for the hotel and supermarket retail industries over the years.

“In my opinion, if we were doing it ourselves, we would know how to sell our produce and what to take and what not to take ... seven years, we should see something,” she added, hoping to see a future where farmers can run their own greenhouse while still working with JSIF.

Sweeney, however, told The Gleaner on Monday that he is surprised that one of the parish’s strongest sites has been experiencing so many difficulties.

He explained that there appears to be a misunderstanding among farmers who believe greenhouses are not theirs to operate independently, but only to supply retailers who then sell the produce to hotels.

But this is not the case, he said, as they own and operate the greenhouses which were only provided by JSIF and its partners for their use, although in the beginning they aided connecting the farmers with people for them to supply the hotels.

But with a general drop in the market because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fall-off in tourist arrivals, Sweeney theorised that this could be the reason for the decline in the farmers’ profit as crops like broccoli and cauliflower were more in demand by hotel industries and entertainment-rich restaurants than in local circles.

He also added that the purveyors and retailers are starting to buy from supermarkets instead of farmers. That increasing competition in the market has resulted in prices falling.

“Hotels still have not come back to where it was pre-COVID,” he said.

Nonetheless, Sweeney recommended that farmers take advantage of the resources available to them, such as contacting the Rural Agricultural Development Authority for expert advice on market trends or to consult with specialists at the JBI.

“All of these teams can simply have a meeting to discuss their challenges and implement a plan going forward,” he added, noting that support for the farmers will remain available and accessible.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com