Success Story

Catherine Wilson and Amel Brown participate in the REAP program.

A multi-year Food For Progress program has enabled Food For The Poor to provide a real stimulus to the Jamaican agricultural sector. Approximately 99,000 farmers and garden planters in Jamaica have started growing crops that will feed their families, relatives and communities, thanks to a joint project between Food For The Poor and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

As a sustainable program, the Rural Economic Agricultural Program (REAP) has taken root in Jamaica with tremendous results. It is a collaborative effort among the USDA, Food For The Poor, Jamaican agencies, and local growers to revitalize the agricultural sector by providing homegrown fruits and vegetables to the people of Jamaica. The Jamaican agencies participating include the Ministry of Agriculture, the Jamaica Agricultural Society and the College of Agriculture, Science and Education. The agricultural sector in Jamaica had been experiencing a decline, but this three-year program has provided a major stimulus to agricultural development and has renewed the farming interest in Jamaica.

REAP helps local farmers get started with seeds and tools that they could not otherwise afford. The farmers receive training in agricultural techniques and methods of marketing their produce. Food is also provided to the farmers during the start-up stage to help them care for their families while the crops grow and develop. Hard work, commitment and a desire to succeed help ensure that these growers will be able to offer nutritious, lifesaving fruits and vegetables to their families and communities.

Currently, approximately 1,500 schools participate in agricultural activities across Jamaica in association with REAP. Training seminars were designed to provide instruction on improving agricultural production, crop diversification and marketing techniques. The REAP program has taught Jamaicans to grow flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables, including: cucumbers, peppers (hot and sweet), bok-choy, callaloo, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, okra, scallions, corn and cabbage. Food For The Poor provides monthly technical assistance to each region: model garden plots and the necessary farm tools, food, seeds, training, agronomic advice and project monitoring which includes soil testing. By providing food to the REAP participants, farmers are able to attend classes and save on the expense of providing for their families.

The goal during the first year of the program was to organize participants and begin training, farming and the distribution of goods. During the second year, the farmers were taught how to market their products and participate in national sales to restaurants and hotels in Jamaica. During that time, an increase in employment for additional young people in food processing and packaging resulted. The third and final year of the program resulted in self-sufficiency for the farmers, the ability to both sell locally and export crops, and an increase in crop sharing in local co-ops.

Several unexpected results have come about through the REAP program. Initially, the program was to aid people living in rural areas, but people in urban areas soon wanted to participate. Previously unused spaces behind homes and churches now serve as gardens that produce food for the urban residents. The REAP program not only provides hardworking Jamaicans with food, but also with a way to earn a living and live with dignity. Farmers who were once too poor to send their children to school can now afford to do so, thanks to the income from their increased crops.

Food For The Poor believes that education is the beginning of the end of poverty. By enabling the poor to help themselves, projects like REAP will yield positive results into the future, and will benefit upcoming generations.