Nearly 70 kids in Stann Creek District spent this week getting hands-on with agriculture, from planting tomatoes to learning how a single beehive can hold up to 80,000 bees.
The summer camp, running at Georgetown Technical High School in the Stann Creek District, is the second of two week-long sessions the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and New Growth Industries has held this summer. It follows an earlier week at the Agriculture and Natural Resource Institute.
Participants between the ages of 7 and 17 moved through a different agricultural focus each day, starting with horticulture and livestock care before beekeeping, agro-processing and aquaculture.
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Agriculture Field Officer Bernadette Cob said the goal is shifting how young people see farming altogether. “We try to get them inclusive and let them know that the activities we do are very important, especially with agriculture, because that is very important… We want them to understand that agriculture is not just about a dirty job. We need it for food security, and we need them to be sustainable,” Cob said. “
Cob said seeing young girls take an active role has been especially meaningful to her. “I know it’s very overwhelming to see them, how they can incorporate. Not only the girls, but you see the girls encouraging the young boys to get involved, get into the practical work,” she said.
For 12-year-old participant Zemvirson Juarez, the week has been full of firsts. He planted tomatoes in a greenhouse on day one and took some home to grow, but the beekeeping session stood out the most. “I learned a lot, that in one bee box there can be up to 80,000 bees,” Juarez said. “The honey has different colours because of the different flowers they get nectar from… and I saw the bee wax and the royal jelly, and also the bee venom, and a lot of soaps,” he said.
The camp wraps up Friday with a session on aquaculture.
