Tweet
St Mary farmers' co-operative makes strides
Published: Saturday | March 12, 2011 2 Comments
Leon Pounall, Gleaner Writer
ITERBOREAL, St Mary:
NESTLED IN the hills of eastern St Mary in the district Iterboreal is Long Road Co-operative - an organisation which continues to make strides in the development of agriculture in the parish.
The cooperative was conceived through the St Theresa Catholic Church, when some Canadian Jesuits came to the church in the 1990s under the leadership of Father Jim Webb and Hillary Sherlock, who worked in Annotto Bay and its environs. They saw small farmers with the potential to do better farming practices and the need for a place to market their provisions. The two started to have [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]meetings[/COLOR][/COLOR] with farmers in the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]community[/COLOR][/COLOR], who gravitated towards the venture which gave birth to the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]enterprise[/COLOR][/COLOR].
Due to the huge interest showed by farmers in the district, adjoining communities and from other parishes, the name of the organisation was changed to the St Mary Multi-Purpose Co-operative (SMMC). According to Althea McFarlene, marketing representative at SMMC, "A 20 per cent mark-up is charged on produce, and it goes towards the overhead expenses and 80 per cent goes to the farmers."
SMMC is a non-profit, non-governmental cooperative whose sole purpose is to market the goods of small farmers both locally and internationally. However, from time to time it receives technical advice from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and takes on projects with other government and non-government organisations. The cooperative currently has on staff 10 employees, and depending on the nature and demand for supplies it takes on part-time workers. SMMC is the only of its kind in Jamaica which fosters the growth and development of peasant farming.
Published: Saturday | March 12, 2011 2 Comments
Leon Pounall, Gleaner Writer
ITERBOREAL, St Mary:
NESTLED IN the hills of eastern St Mary in the district Iterboreal is Long Road Co-operative - an organisation which continues to make strides in the development of agriculture in the parish.
The cooperative was conceived through the St Theresa Catholic Church, when some Canadian Jesuits came to the church in the 1990s under the leadership of Father Jim Webb and Hillary Sherlock, who worked in Annotto Bay and its environs. They saw small farmers with the potential to do better farming practices and the need for a place to market their provisions. The two started to have [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]meetings[/COLOR][/COLOR] with farmers in the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]community[/COLOR][/COLOR], who gravitated towards the venture which gave birth to the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]enterprise[/COLOR][/COLOR].
Due to the huge interest showed by farmers in the district, adjoining communities and from other parishes, the name of the organisation was changed to the St Mary Multi-Purpose Co-operative (SMMC). According to Althea McFarlene, marketing representative at SMMC, "A 20 per cent mark-up is charged on produce, and it goes towards the overhead expenses and 80 per cent goes to the farmers."
SMMC is a non-profit, non-governmental cooperative whose sole purpose is to market the goods of small farmers both locally and internationally. However, from time to time it receives technical advice from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and takes on projects with other government and non-government organisations. The cooperative currently has on staff 10 employees, and depending on the nature and demand for supplies it takes on part-time workers. SMMC is the only of its kind in Jamaica which fosters the growth and development of peasant farming.