Overwhelming response to Backyard Garden Project

The responses to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Backyard Garden Project has been overwhelming, with some 7,053 persons having applied for the 2,500 backyard garden kits under the initiative, which is designed to strengthen the country’s food security by enabling citizens to grow and consume their own produce.

Data provided by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, the agency responsible for the distribution of the kits, indicated that the number of female applicants – 4,725, far outnumbered the males at 2,328.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Floyd Green has described the response from the woman as encouraging.

“It is really good to see a number of women expressing interest in our Backyard Gardening Project. We are moving to have more of them participating in agriculture and hope this project will be a stepping stone for them, that they will start with their backyards or containers, realise they have a green thumb and move into more extensive forms of agriculture,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the applicants were mainly from the parishes of St Catherine and Kingston and St Andrew, with the age groups 26-35 and 36-45 representing the largest segments.

The Backyard Garden Project, which was launched on February 19 in Portmore, St Catherine, not only aims to bolster food security, but enables persons to save costs in the purchase of produce, to enhance their nutrition, health and well-being.

As part of the kits, beneficiaries are to receive a garden fork and shovel, assorted seeds, seedling tray, and potting mix and fertiliser.

Beneficiaries are being encouraged to produce two to four crops per year, including vegetables such as pepper, cabbage, tomato, callaloo, pak choi and herbs.

– Christopher Serju