Women dominate western backyard garden challenge
Published:Friday | February 12, 2021 | 12:20 AMKavarly Arnold/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Female farmers yesterday dominated the Jamaica 4-H Clubs Family Backyard Garden Challenge in the western region, staking their claim in a male-dominated sector as they walked away with the four top parish prizes.
Shaneka Wallace-Graham (St James), Shana-Kay Spencer-Smith (Trelawny), Shadae Clarke-Frank (Hanover), and Odelee Gordon (Westmoreland) emerged champions from a field of more than 500 families who took part in the drive to intensify and strengthen subsistence farming to improve food production, food security, and food diversification.
Karelle McCormack, public relations and marketing manager at the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, said the organisation was quite excited about the role it is playing in getting more women involved in agriculture.
“It’s very interesting, considering that agriculture is recognised as a male-dominated field,” said McCormack at yesterday’s presentation ceremony at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) Building in Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, St James.
“More and more young women are getting involved in the rural area. This is something that 4-H is also looking closely at as it relates to improving the lives of rural women in agriculture. It is indeed special to see that the top winners from the region are women,” she said, noting that this was a positive sign for the future of the sector.
“If we also look at the population at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), where the majority of the students there came through the 4-H Clubs, there is a high number of female students there,” said McCormack. “Not only are more women getting involved in agriculture, but also actually owning their respective enterprises and value-adding with agro-processing.”
Wallace-Graham, the St James champion, was involved in the corporate world and turned to agriculture during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“It has been an extremely positive turn, this backyard gardening competition. It has planted a pivot in my life that I am really appreciative of. I was one of the first persons in the 4-H RYEEP (Rural Youth Economic Empowerment Programme) Starter 1000, where I did the core production course, and I’m now in another programme, agrotech entrepreneurship,” she said.
“I am also in the foundation stage of starting a small-scale social enterprise, targeting single mothers and other under-served and under-resourced population, to create home-based commercially viable agricultural systems,” continued Wallace-Graham.
“I have realised the impact in my community, where I had a friend of mine set up a small greenhouse. My neighbours just keep coming, asking if I have seedlings and how to do things. So I realised that it caused me to want to learn more, and I have been getting information from 4-H and RADA,” said the champion farmer.