Theresa Marryshow: A beacon for female farmers in the Caribbean

Loop Lifestyle; March 8, 2024

Women have been a pillar of food production in the Caribbean for many years. However, they are becoming a dying presence in the field since many are now choosing careers, which are seen as more respectable and lucrative.

Marryshow’s journey into farming exemplifies resilience, dedication, and a deep-rooted love for the land.

For Marryshow, farming is not just a profession; it’s a way of life.

Inspired by her family’s agricultural heritage and a desire to cultivate sustainable practices, she embarked on her farming journey at a young age.

“I got involved in agriculture from a very young age. My grandparents and parents were farmers, but they used to cultivate traditional crops like cocoa, nutmeg and some root crops,” she told Loop News in an interview.

She started her farm, T’s Eco Garden, on a piece of land she inherited following her brother’s murder. The two acre plot in St David was filled with crops such as pumpkins and watermelons. She eventually expanded operations to include herbs, seasoning, poultry and varieties of gourmet lettuce, which she sells to locals and large hotels such as the Sandals Resort.

A love for the land made Marryshow study agriculture and that choice proved to be a good move as it allowed her to travel to Guyana, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, India and China to learn about new techniques to take her craft a step above the rest.

Marryshow was not selfish with her knowledge as she shared it with the farmers she encountered while working at the Ministry of Agriculture for over 20 years until her retirement in 2015.

Retirement did not slow down Marryshow as the farm provided her with a place to relax and find purpose.

“When I’m stressed, I get peace on the farm. So, I can come and look at my plants grow from a seed in the nursery to a crop I sell to my customers. And I really have a passion for agriculture. I love it to my bone,” she remarked.

Marryshow, a 2019 recipient of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), is not content with finding success for herself as she uses her position as President of the Grenada Network of Rural Women Producers (GRENROP) to help female farmers to access opportunities.

Marryshow wants women, who love farming, to return to the land.

“I would encourage women to get into farming. Number one, we have to eat and you would be able to eat what you grow. It also gives women a sense of independence because you have these crops that you could now sell and get an income to help take care of your family,” she stated.

“Farming also provides you with a sense of release. When you’re stressed out, you can come to the land and you could sit down and talk to your plants. One thing I always tell women though is that you have to love agriculture before getting into farming because it could break you down quickly.”

Food security is set to be one of the pillars of Grenada’s development over the next 25 years.

Marryshow said she wants Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell to ensure women are given the tools and support to contribute towards feeding Grenada and the wider Caribbean.

https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/theresa-marryshow-beacon-female-farmers-caribbean