Passionate farmer cultivates success with diverse products

For 44-year-old Elizabeth Mills, farming is not just a source of income, but a passion that has transformed her into a budding entrepreneur with her own small but steadily growing manufacturing business.

Mills has a small farm in Clarendon where she grows crops such as mangoes, oranges, cashews, cucumbers and sweet peppers. She also raises pigs, goats, layer chickens and ducks.

And that is not all. This phenomenal woman makes products such as castor oil, cocoa butter, coconut oil, turmeric powder, charcoal powder and soaps from the plants she grows.

"I plant my own stuff and then I make my own products. I don't guh to the store like some people and buy the bulk, and then bottle it and put on a label. No, I do everything from scratch, so I'll go and get the chocolate from the tree and make raw cocoa butter from it," Mills said.

In the past year, Mills has delved into duck farming after recognising its lucrative potential in the market.

"I just started to advertise and I see a lot of people starting to gravitate to it, a lot of people want them for pets, so why not sell them?" Mills said.

Mills also told THE STAR that although being a full-time female farmer is not easy for her, it is fulfilling and she enjoys every bit of it.

"I love it, I get up from like 5 or 6 o'clock, and come down to the farm and start to feed the animals, and that's how I start the day. I then take care of the plants and pick what I need to make my products," Mills said.

Still, she added that there are challenges for women in the profession. Although she has been told multiple times that she will fail because she is doing a man's job, she has recognised that with innovation and taking a different approach, women can be just as successful as men.

"To me, the hardest part on the farm is to lift stuff, enuh, but they're other ways. So even if you can't lift a feeding bag, you can throw it out in buckets and move with it," she said.

Mill's also advises women considering becoming farmers to get on board, but only if they have a love for the career.

"If you don't love something, you're not going to be good at it," Mills said.