Kenrick Wickham, 34, from Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara, began farming seven years ago and believes it is the ultimate path to sustainability.
Married with two children, farming has supported his family over the years. Previously, he worked as a taxi driver, bus driver, and carpenter before turning to agriculture.
He cultivates cherry, soursop, celery, and pepper, and now plans to venture into passion fruit, which is low maintenance. Wickham will also test a new farming technique to protect his crops during flooding.
In an interview, he discussed the challenges faced by him and other local farmers, including theft and water issues.
“We at Nabaclis encounter many difficulties with water; that is one of our main problems. Sometimes we have too much water, and when we do have the right amount of water, sometimes it is salt because Nabaclis is one of the lowest areas within Cove and John, Golden Grove, and Haslington,” Wickham explained.
Wickham will also test a new farming technique to protect his crops during flooding.
He farms on ancestral lands that have been passed down from generations long before him.
The ambitious farmer is also leasing land to expand his agricultural business. But he has had to deal with theft, a lack of proper planting materials, and other issues.
“Sometimes we get people coming and thieving our stuff, and insects—we also encounter insects,” Wickham explained and added that the spraying of rice fields also affects the farmers. “When they encounter insects, they have to spray, and sometimes when they spray with the motor blower, we have to run from here to get fresh air. Sometimes it affects our crops, and we cannot pick our crops, and that goes to spoil,” Wickham stated.
Kenrick Wickham, 34, from Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara, began farming seven years ago and believes it is the ultimate path to sustainability.
He said the farmers would try to estimate when the rice fields would be sprayed and harvest beforehand. “Sometimes the loss can be great; sometimes it is a minor loss, but we still have to keep going. Farming is the way forward, and as Mr Burnham said, plant something, grow something, and you will reap something.”
He only sells his produce to local villagers. “I don’t go to the big market because everybody knows around the village that when I produce, it is close to organic, so it is like they are getting proper stuff for a cheap cost, so people are waiting for me to come out and sell,” Wickham said.
The father of two said he loves everything about farming. “It keeps my body active; it helps me to produce more organic, healthier stuff for me and my family; also, I can provide for my surrounding community,” he said.
Pepper cultivation on one of Wickham’s farms
He encourages everyone to get into agriculture, even if it’s on a small scale, and at the same time called for more support for farmers. Wickham and several other farmers are benefitting from the Sustainable Agriculture in the Caribbean (SAC) Project, which is being implemented by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC).
The project focuses on empowering women, youth, and marginalised male farmers, addressing the challenges faced by these farmers, and developing solutions for improving agricultural markets.
“Through WUSC Caribbean, through the SAC programme, I have learned about the raised bed technique; I said I am going to try that technique,” Wickham said.
Setting up a water system at one of his farms
He has already started to make preparations to test the new farming technique with recycled five-gallon bottles.
“Instead of burning the bottles or throwing them away, I am reusing the bottles. I cut the tops off and put in soil; I am going to plant passion fruit in there and then put it on tyres, so it is going to be off the ground. That way, when we get flooding, it won’t affect the passion fruit,” Wickham explained.
He will also soon embark on a tomato trial project.
The post From Driver to Farmer: Nabaclis man embraces farming as the way forward appeared first on News Room Guyana.
