Farming project changing lives in African Gardens

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May 31, 2022

Photo

Reverend Dorothy Price-Maitland, secretary of the African Gardens Farmers Project, shows off products made by the group at last weekend’s Agrofest, held at the Hope Gardens in St Andrew.

Rev Dorothy Price-Maitland says that the farming project in African Gardens has provided youngsters with an opportunity to get involved in meaningful activities.

Residents of African Gardens, a community in August Town, St Andrew, have embraced an agricultural project which has been changing their fortunes.

Dubbed the African Gardens Farming Project, the initiative revolves around an agro-processing plant that is used in the production of natural juices and pastries.

Reverend Dorothy Price-Maitland, secretary of the group that consists of about 30 resident farmers, said that the majority of the people involved are young. She said that they till more than seven acres of fertile land daily, on which they produce crops like beetroot, eggplant, black currant, sweet potato, broccoli, plantain, cauliflower, green banana, gungo peas and sweet pepper.

"We are occupied with farming. Right now, we take the pleasure of going on the hill behind our community, and we use the RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority) tractor to plough and clear the land, and we have been going on fine over there," Price-Maitland said.

The fruits of the group's labour were on display at Jamaica Agricultural Society's Agricultural Show (AgroFest) at Hope Gardens in St Andrew on the weekend. The group's products include a beetroot drink that has been infused with ginger and pimento, sorrel beer, sweet potato pudding, cannabis tonic wine, as well as herbal tonic wines, gizzada and grater cakes.

"The farming is for self-reliance, and the juice sales are profitable," Price-Maitland said.

She said that the farmers have branched off into goat farming and the production of eggs and poultry meat.

"I see a lot of people now tek on to the farming in the community -- about 20-odd people tek on to the pig farming -- and it is good. I want to expand it outside the reach of African Gardens, to include August Town on a whole, because so far, it is spreading wide," Price-Maitland, a self-described nation-builder, said.

African Gardens, Price-Maitland said, has not recorded a single murder in the last four years.

"We get the Barry Chevannes Trophy four full years for keeping the peace. Four full years [and] no crime," she said, adding that youth being involved in farming is one of the reasons for the stability.

"It is something to keep the youth occupied, and other youth outside the community are getting into it," Price-Maitland said.