4-H Clubs and partners back St. Elizabeth youth farmers after Hurricane Melissa

Young farmers in St. Elizabeth who lost crops, livestock and weeks of labour when Hurricane Melissa struck the parish in October 2025 are receiving targeted help from the Jamaica 4-H Clubs and partner agencies to restart their operations and rebuild their livelihoods.

The recovery effort draws on support from the United Nations Development Programme through the JARIP project. Many of those now receiving assistance were earlier beneficiaries of crops and livestock inputs under UNDP's EnGenDer programme. The agency reached out to 4-H to reconnect with farmers who had benefited before and were hit again by the storm. Current aid includes crop supplies, water tanks, pigs, goats and bees.

Living Well has also joined the push. After the hurricane, 4-H partnered with the group in Middle Quarters and Kilmarnock, where community members received health checks and psychological counselling alongside material support. Living Well returned to sponsor inputs for youth farmers, while the Living Well Community Care Centre and Wray & Nephew Company donated one million Jamaican dollars to the foundation for Melissa relief efforts in the parish.

The programme will assist 20 St. Elizabeth farmers between the ages of 18 and 35 with crop and livestock inputs matched to what they were producing before the storm, including tanks, drip kits, goats, pigs and feed. Organisers said the packages may not replace everything that was lost, but they provide a starting point for recovery.

Among those benefiting is Kadia Vassell, a former 4-H Club member who has become one of the parish's youth ambassadors. Her farm and community were badly affected by Hurricane Melissa, and support through the 4-H recovery programme is helping her and other young farmers move forward.

"I got a lot of damages after Hurricane Melissa. I had some tomatoes, some cucumbers, some sweet peppers and scallion and I lost everything," she said. "After seeing what was left of my farm, I did not just throw a pity party. I got up because I know I have to do what I have to do. Farmers are very resilient persons — we are the strongest. So I just got to work, got some help, cleaned up and started replanting."

Since the hurricane, she has reaped cauliflower, lettuce, more cucumbers and scallion. She said the assistance is especially welcome because rainfall is limited where she farms and piped water is not yet available, with the Essex Valley water programme still in the process of being opened. To help her manage supply, 4-H donated a water tank and hose.

"This support means a lot to me because where I am farming right now, we don't get a lot of rains here, so I have a water problem," Vassell said. "Getting these inputs today means a lot to me because it will help on the farm."

She thanked the Jamaica 4-H Clubs family and urged young people at every level of school to join the 4-H movement. For Vassell and others, the support extends beyond farming supplies, offering hope and reinforcing the resilience that has kept them planting and rebuilding.