Buxton farmers benefitted from market road, farming equipment

The farming community of Buxton has confidently embraced several interventions by the government, including high-quality fertilisers, an efficient mechanical tiller, essential tools such as forks, rakes, garden hoes, shovels, cutlasses, and sharpening tools, along with a strategically built one-mile farm-to-market road, all aimed at significantly enhancing their livelihoods.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke with various Buxton farmers on Tuesday.

The farmers said that since the road was built in 2024, it has been easy for them to move their produce to markets.

Additionally, Chairman of the Buxton-Friendship Farmers’ Group, Leroy Hamer, noted that the completion of the one-mile farm-to-market road has given farmers courage to continue farming as a means of living.

He said it even inspired more young people to get into the industry. Hamer said that they are already recruiting young farmers.

He further stated that farmers need assistance from the community and not from their Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).

“We have things that…employ young people, they might know a trade. But they might not come to the back dam and do something”, he stated.  

He emphasised that farmers are grateful for any assistance that is of benefit to them.  

Another farmer, Ronaldo Roberts, noted that farmers in the community need to cooperate and work with the government.

“The government is a system, and the people have to take responsibility to help the government do their work,” Robert noted.

The community of Buxton also benefited from training on best practices for coconut cultivation from the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) in collaboration with the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI).