Women at the forefront of organic farming
AS she climbed up the steep mountainside to inspect the coffee plants on her six-acre farm, Dorienne Rowan-Campbell slipped and fell, damaging her leg very badly. So much so that she had to have corrective surgery and undergo over eight months of rehabilitation.
The accident happened last year, but that has not deterred Rowan-Campbell from making her bi-weekly trip from Kingston to Silver Hill Gap in Portland to tend her farm which, she vows, will be a successful model of organic farming.
“When I started out in 1992, I was learning because I love the land,” Rowan-Campbell said. “My dad used to plant coffee before but he had stopped for a while and the land was just there.
“I decided that I wanted to do it, but I had a lot to learn. Some great farmers helped me, like John Allgrove from Whitfield Hall. He told me what I needed to do to start, but I wanted to find a way that was more environmentally-friendly, so I decided to learn about organic farming.”
Getting to Rowan-Campbell’s farm is no easy stroll. The sharply winding trail is steep, grassy and slippery, forcing her to use a stick for support.
But, according to Rowan-Campbell, this is excellent terrain for growing coffee.
“This is over 4,000 feet above sea level, so it is very good for coffee,” she told the Observer. “It is a part of the Blue Mountain range and we all know the quality of coffee produced in this area,” she added, while inspecting coffee beans.
The difference with her farm, however, is the way the coffee is cultivated.
Certified organic coffee uses no pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilisers. It ensures that shade-friendly varieties of coffee are planted. Organic coffee growers boast that shade-grown organic coffee contributes to a healthy eco-system, as it helps retain natural foliage thereby allowing local flora and fauna to thrive.
Local farmers and their families, converts like Rowan-Campbell say, are not endangered by chemical pollutants. Organic farmland remains fertile — nutrients are not leached continually from the ground — and farmers can use the same plots of land for decades.
Rowan-Campbell explained the way she managed her farm.
“I have two acres cultivated in coffee. As a small farmer I should get about 100 boxes from that. We don’t chop out the underbrush, instead we cut it very low. We also try to plant trees so that we can keep most of the coffee fully shaded.”
She explained that she uses compost heaps “to keep the environment as natural as possible”.
Rowan-Campbell and her three workers had experimented by inserting two-and-a-half feet of PVC pipes into the ground and feeding the compost through them.
“We were not sure it would work, but it did,” she said. “It acts like a slow feed. We plant it at the drip line (or a certain angle) and when the rain falls it slowly feeds the plants.”
For sceptics who may question whether organic farming has any real advantage over traditional methods of farming, Rowan-Campbell said the difference was in the sustained effort that it takes to do this kind of farming.
“With organic farming you try to build the soil back,” she explained. “In the old days, so much conscious thought was not given to it. It was more like you lacked resources so you tried to make do.”
Rowan-Campbell has applied for and received international certification for her farm that will allow her to market overseas.
“I want to sell to a select clientele, a gourmet market who wants quality product,” she said.
While she is now poised to break in on the international market, other organic farmers like the husband and wife team of Donna and Paul Noble supply the local market with vegetables and herbs.
The products appear in select supermarkets under the label, Woodford Market Garden.
“We always had an interest in organic farming,” said Donna Noble, who manages the farm. “We got into it as a sort of experiment. We had always wanted to eat organic stuff but it was not available on the market so we decided to try producing it ourselves.”
She said that breaking into the local market proved a bit difficult, however, through dedication and hard work they have managed to build a good customer base.
“If for any reason we can’t get out the product, our customers call and ask us what is happening,” she said.
The demand, she said, was driven by people’s desire to eat healthier foods.
The Nobles employ four full-time and four part-time workers, split evenly among the genders.
According to sales representatives Bonnie Jean Bailey, both sexes participate fully in the farming process.
“The men prepare the land and the women plant the herbs,” she explained. “The women also help to reap, wash and pack the products for supermarket.”
With pride she showed the nursery where the organic seeds were planted — herbs such as dill, parsley, chives, fennel and lettuce.
“The seedlings take eight days to germinate,” Donna Noble explained. “At three weeks we plant them in beds. We use no chemicals, just bioganic and compost. We rotate the fields and in five weeks they are ready. It takes about eight weeks in all.”
Although organic and traditional farming employ different methods, both sets of farmers are affected by similar problems, such as the elements and praedial thieves.
A hand of bananas lying on the ground on Rowan-Campbell’s farm demonstrated the problem.
“Nobody has cut bananas here since morning,” she told the Observer. “It is obvious this was cut yesterday. So they (thieves) obviously raided before we came.”
Her problem, she explained, was that her workers are at the farm three or four days each week. On the other days, the farm is vulnerable to the thieves.
Heavy rains also pose a risk of landslides on the farm, forcing Rowan-Campbell to have the land terraced..
“I have done a lot of terracing using banana trunks to strengthen my hillside,” she said. “I don’t want my land to erode so I have to build it up.”
Despite the problems, Rowan-Campbell is determined to succeed. She has become a member of the Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement Limited (JOAM), a small non-governmental non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering the development of the organic agriculture industry.
She spoke with pride about other women, particularly a group from Woodside, St Mary, who are involved in organic farming and have been supplying the local market. “It is a good livelihood for them,” she said.
This was supported by group member, 41 year-old Jennifer Godfrey, in a later interview.
“The organic group started in February this year with six persons but now we have 11 members,” Godfrey said. She explained that a good Samaritan had given the women about three acres of land in Woodside to use.
“We all work together to make sure that everybody is getting along,” she said. “We all enjoy it and we have been to several workshops — some put on by JOAM — to learn more effective techniques.”
According to Godfrey, they were receiving a lot of community support and there was a good demand for their product.
“Our prices are a little more expensive, but nobody complains,” she said. We sell lettuce for about $130 to $150 per pound, whereas maybe the normal price is $100. Our okras and our corn are the same but the community supports us.”
But the expense is not only borne by the consumer, as, according to Rowan-Campbell, farmers will find it “a little expensive initially” getting started. “But if you target a select market it can be viable,” she said.
Rowan-Campbell, who has some background in international development work, is convinced that organic farming is taking off in Jamaica.
“Once people see the advantages more people will start farming using organic methods,” she said. “The crops are healthier, you have less diseases and the land is being replenished.”