Having succeeded in turning their passion into profits, sisters Tashana and Latoya Newell of Ramble, St Thomas are enjoying independence and time freedom through their beloved farming ventures.
The duo, who were inspired by their father, an ardent farmer, are busy producing onions, sweet peppers, cucumbers, watermelons, pineapples, bananas, plantains and ackees in St Thomas. They also dabble in livestock by raising chickens.
In an interview with JIS News at the 70th staging of the Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in May Pen, Clarendon recently, Tashana indicated that it was the experience of her son being asthmatic, forcing her to leave her job to tend to him when he needed her, that fully propelled her into farming.
“I wanted something to do on my own time and have time for him. And, because my dad was a farmer, I started to farm, and here I am years later, and I am loving it,” she said.
Now a full-time farmer, Tashana and her sister sell their produce to other farmers, vendors and companies.
For Latoya, farming is quite a lucrative venture which women can use to earn a living for themselves.
“It is one way for women to become independent and to help themselves out of poverty and provide for their families. Some households in Jamaica are single-mother households, so it is a positive way to have a good backing,” she said.
It also seems that the apple truly does not fall far from the tree, as Tashana pointed out that her eight-year-old daughter has drawn inspiration from her mother and aunt, and is also loving the farming.
“She asks for seeds and she even had her (grew her) own onions last season,” Tashana recalled.
The Newell sisters were among a group of St Thomas farmers who were taken to the Denbigh show by the parish’s Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) office.
The show was scaled down from its usual three-day format to a one-day staging, due to the negative impact of the passage of Hurricane Beryl in early July.
Tashana explained that despite the hurricane, she realises that “When you come to Denbigh, you (farmers) always get sale and you (as patrons) get things a little cheaper, so we decided to take the opportunity.”
“The vibe that we got (at Denbigh this year), we were saying, ‘Wow, the three days could have kept’,” Latoya chimed in.
They said they were impressed with the turnout from both patrons and farmers, and were equally appreciative of the opportunities to learn about new chemicals to try on their farms, and useful information to boost their resilience against future adversities.
Denbigh 70 was held under the theme ‘Building back through resilience’.
