Jamaican Agriculture And Rural Development: Understanding The Young Farmers Of Today

The purpose of the following research was to explore Jamaican agriculture and rural development from the perspective of young, trained agriculturists, ages 18-34 and agricultural leaders, government leaders, and educators within the agricultural sector. The relevance of this research emerged from personal experience and current literature. Questionnaires were administered to young, trained agriculturalists (N=97) and several interviews were conducted with agricultural leaders and educators. The results of this research indicate that trained agriculturalists in this age bracket are not choosing to farm. In order to encourage youth to farm in the future, this paper finds that both questionnaire respondents and interviewees are aligned on several policy options. This paper recommends a concentrated and targeted government-led campaign to encourage the youth to be ready to take over Jamaican agriculture, a very important component of rural development, Jamaican culture and the economy