Judason Bess on his Container Gardening Local Assignment in Guyana

Judason in the process of preparing natural organic pesticides.

Born and raised in Guyana’s countryside, Judason Bess was no stranger to agriculture. Assisting his mother in her kitchen garden and helping with the chickens, he grew with nothing but love and passion for farming. This passion in later years earned him a place at the University of Guyana where he completed a BSc Degree in Agriculture and Forestry. During two of his four years at University, he served as president of the Agriculture Club, where he used this platform to bridge the gap between the theory they were taught in classrooms and what was actually practiced in the field. He acquired funds through poultry rearing and fundraisers to facilitate field trips to various farms, in order for students to gain practical knowledge. 

When he was in his final semester, he decided to start an agribusiness called “The Farmacy”, to make sure that once he had graduated he could make a difference in the Guyanese agriculture sector. He began by targeting one of the more serious problems facing agriculture in Guyana: the aging farming population. He started working with young men and women who liked agriculture but didn’t have the resources to start or thought farming was too difficult. Providing them with the necessary technical and sometimes financial support, a few of those youths became producers under the umbrella of The Farmacy. Judason also taught them to be innovative and resourceful through techniques such as vertical farming and soilless agriculture. That’s when he saw an opportunity through the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) and applied for their 2016 fellowship program so he could learn more about sustainable agriculture and build his network of producers. 

A few weeks later, Judason found out that he was one of the 250 people selected throughout the Caribbean and Latin America to be a part of the fellowship. He spent six weeks in the US, working with various farmers, building his networking abilities, and strengthening the ideas he had for The Farmacy. It was during these six weeks that he became fascinated with the concept of organic farming as regenerative agriculture. He came back home eager to share what he had learned, and started by hosting two Soil Biology workshops at the University of Guyana and at Partners of the Americas Guyana. 

After these workshops, he was offered a job at the premier agriculture research institute in Guyana to provide extension services to areas that were getting involved in commercial farming. Thinking of all the farmers and prospective farmers he could help, he did not hesitate to say yes. He now not only works as a District Crop Extension Officer with the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) but also as a Research Assistant supervising the Geographic Information System (GIS) Unit in the Soil Management and Farm Mechanization Department. 

Judason and the other Guyanese YLAI Participants paying a courtesy call to Ambassador Holloway.
Credit: U.S. Embassy in Guyana

In September 2020, Judason started volunteering locally with the Farmer-to-Farmer Program, supporting the Guyana field office with the creation of a strategic plan to guide the production of a series of container vegetable gardening videos, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Judason was paired with a remote volunteer, Thomas Poole, who has a BS in Crop Science with a minor in International Development Economics and an MBA. He has experience growing greenhouse vegetables and developing and executing content strategies for social media. While Judason will conduct local workshops with community members, families, farmers and other stakeholders; Thomas will review all currently available materials and develop a plan for compiling, scheduling and publishing the content on various social media platforms. 

Two video and photo editing specialists were also recruited as US-based remote volunteers, and will be in charge of preparing the container vegetable gardening videos, showing the various step-by-step processes. Judason tells us about his first experience working as a virtual Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer: 

“My experience volunteering with Partners of the Americas has so far been rewarding. Working in a field that I love, being able to share my knowledge and experience with the team from Partners and the remote US-based volunteers so far has been truly spectacular. It’s definitely not the experience we associate with volunteerism, but volunteering from home does have its perks. 

This is my first experience working as a virtual volunteer, and I immediately fell in love with the concept of teaching people how to start a container vegetable garden. I saw this as a step in the right direction which will ultimately help to flatten the curve for COVID-19 and play a part in ensuring food security is met. Some adjustments had to be made, as it was no longer a case of me physically being on-site, showing people what is required. 

Discussions begun between the volunteers and it was decided what needs to be done, how it can be done, and by whom. Reviewing each module, creating storyboards and videos with the help from the team, I slowly felt like a screenwriter and a director. This process was fun, which made me realize why actors/actresses are compensated at the higher end of the scale. Most of the modules took time to create, some videos had to be redone. It is no easy task to be technical while worrying about lighting, audio and script. But with the experience of some of the team members, we have overcome those challenges. 

My experience so far has been magnificent. I look forward to future projects where I can lend my support, not only in agriculture but in my newfound passion, screenwriting and directing”.