Let it grow! Inspiring a new generation of farmers

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, March 13, 2023 – Let it Grow: Sustainability; Responsibility; Entrepreneurship, is the name of the program that is making farmers out of our youth by incorporating farms in high schools across the country; already some schools are reaping the fruits of their labor. 

We spoke to Elsiann Delancey, Curriculum Development Officer in the Department of Education who oversees the project. 

“Our goal was to help students create avenues for success — This interdisciplinary approach to teaching sustainability in schools will help students learn how to produce their food, and care for animals through farming while considering business opportunities in the field of Agricultural Science,” she explained.

The new urgency towards food security comes following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine war, which both wreaked havoc on the supply chain in quick succession, sending food inflation in the Turks and Caicos to a whopping 38 percent, and forcing the government to spend upwards of $12 million to support residents as they battled the increased prices.  

It sped up the implementation of the PDM conceptualized project, and in  April 2022 it began officially.

“Schools were provided with the necessary resources such as pots, tools, soil, seeds, an irrigation system, and fencing. In addition, teachers were trained by the Department of Education and Agriculture on establishing a farm and integrating farming concepts across various subject areas,” said Delancey, mentioning that Mario Smith from the Department of Agriculture was an invaluable help to the process.

And now the effort is paying off!

“Schools have been reaping a variety of fruits and vegetables to be sold to community members or to make a mixed vegetable paste to be sold to the community by students, as a method to teach entrepreneurship. In some cases, using the harvested vegetables to make breakfast for students in the morning,” she explained.

While the project started in fifteen public and two private high schools and is now active in sixteen, Delancey says the ultimate goal is to establish farms in all public and private schools in the Turks and Caicos Islands.  She says it continues in an effort to promote self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and promoting the field of agriculture. More schools are expected to be added to the programme for the next term.