Needham Pen farmers get irrigation boost
Thirty-five farmers in St Thomas have received a major boost from the Digicel Foundation to aid in improving irrigation at their farms at Needham Pen in the parish.
The farmers, who are members of the Needham Pen Farmers’ Association, were yesterday presented with a $650,000 grant at Digicel’s Ocean Boulevard, Kingston, office yesterday.
Winston Scott, the leader of the Needham Pen group, said that insufficient water supply has posed a major challenge for farmers, many of whom grow crops such as pak choi, cabbage, lettuce, callaloo, okra and cucumber.
“The main thing in the community is agriculture, there is not much option to gain employment or income from,” said Scott.
The farmer, who has a master’s degree in tropical crop protection from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus, said that farmers have constantly complained about their water woes.
“I have a barrage of knowledge in agricultural production, but telling them what to do without irrigation may be a challenge to get the results that is desired,” Scott said.
Having learnt of the grants on offer from the Digicel Foundation, Scott immediately applied. He was elated when he found out that Needham Pen Farmers’ Association has been selected for a grant.
“When I got the call it was a sense of relief to know that we can get somewhere in terms of improving the lives and livelihood of the farmers who depend on agriculture for their income,” the 39-year-old said.
The grant, which is part of Digicel
Foundation’s ‘20 for 20’, will be used to renovate the catchment area that the Needham Farmers have erected, as well as to purchase water tanks and irrigation hoses.
The ‘20 for 20’ grants target not-for-profit groups and social enterprises particularly in the areas of education, special needs, agriculture and entrepreneurship. Tiffany Grey, communications officer of the Digicel Foundation, explained that in light of Digicel’s 20th anniversary celebration, the foundation partnered with retail stores to gift 20 groups across the island. The recipients of the grants are based on their need, the ability to manage funding, and community development.
Four other awardees were presented with their $650,000 cheques yesterday. They are the Church of God of Prophecy Basic School in Kingston; Southern Basketball Conference in St Andrew; the Clarendon-based Golden Kiddies Kingdom, and Windsor Lions Community Sports Club from St Catherine.
Jason Moses of the Southern Conference of Basketball Association said the grant will be used to improve sporting activities in Majesty Gardens. The association has been vital in the St Andrew South Western community since an incident in 2016 that left a referee injured from gunshot wounds.
“That is what sparked our interest in figuring out why is it that teens were reluctant to play in that community and why is it that we had to have that unfortunate incident. So we made a decision as a committee to tackle the problem from the youth side of things and really give the next generation an alternative to violence and crime. To really give them a chance to flourish in the classroom and the opportunity to see some form of a positive future,” Moses said.
He said that the grant will be used to pay basketball tutors, provide meals for participants as well as pay utilities for venues used to host games or homework centres.