Former sugar workers seize chance to prove themselves as independent farmers
Published:Friday | March 4, 2022 | 12:08 AMShanna Monteith/Gleaner Writer
Some ex-sugar workers in St Thomas who lost their jobs at the shuttered Golden Grove Sugar Factory are counting that displacement as a blessing in disguise.
Some cultivators have established their own farms on sugar lands that have been repurposed for production under lease, seizing the opportunity for financial independence.
Head of the farmers’ cooperative in Golden Grove, Nigel Levy, said that lands were officially contracted to them by SCJ Holdings Limited a few months ago.
He told The Gleaner that the determined men and women who had initially informally occupied small plots were fighting on two fronts: getting the necessary certification to plant, and relocating cow farmers who were granted 500 acres.
“We had gotten permission to use the area, but were still on the edge because we didn’t know how soon we’d be told to move and we weren’t comfortable with the cows being so close to the river that we use for domestic purposes, but thanks to SCJ, the public defender, and Dr Trevor Munroe, who all played a part in granting us the desires of our hearts,” said Levy, adding that the cow farmers were moved and official access granted to the Plantain Garden River Cooperative to plant simultaneously.
Recalling the panic associated with the factory’s closure in 2019, sugar worker-turned-independent farmer Raymond Miller said that he remembers begging the owners to reconsider their decision to lock shop.
“We had nowhere else to turn. There was a lot of uncertainty and confusion, we didn’t know what next. Then we started to farm on the riverbank just enough to maintain our families,” Miller said in a Gleaner interview.
“We planted plantains and sell to higglers, but we have never gone into such wide-scale farming where we owned acres of land like we do now.”
Miller, who now occupies nearly five acres, expressed gratitude for what he referred to as a “chance to prove ourselves to the wider country”.
The farmers, who now cultivate cassava for markets such as Red Stripe and Rainforest Seafoods, also supply large amounts of Irish potato, pumpkin, melon, and peppers to other local buyers.
Boasting the freedom of self-employment, Miller said that the closure of the sugar factory may have been one of the best things to have happened to him and colleague farmers.
“Seeing and spending your own money is a good feeling. St Thomas is also benefiting, too, especially from the production drive that is happening right now. People who are willing to farm have a chance to take part,” said Miller.
“… As long as you can go get a piece of land, borrow some money from the bank to invest in your farm, then you will succeed.”
The lands are now occupied by approximately 90 farmers, 68 per cent of whom are above 50 years old. Many of them have never been able to work for themselves.
Describing the occasion as a golden opportunity, Carlton Knight, who now occupies four acres of land, is encouraging farmers who are still holding back to take full advantage.
“I’m feeling great, and though some of the farmers are still in doubt, I know it’s a great opportunity. I’ve waited for long for this and it’s a part of my dream – to work for myself on such a big scale – and now I am able to live that dream,” he said.