MANY WOULD expect a 23 year old male to use his leisure time relaxing with friends on the street corner trying to get the attention of every passing female or playing his favourite sport on the community’s ball field. With an employment rate of over 70% in Linden, most youths are taken up in activities far from constructive, blaming the lack of job opportunities for this unfortunate social phenomenon. Christopher John, a 23-year-old farmer of West Watooka, Linden, begs to differ. This young man rubbishes the fact that youths place all the blame on the Government and regional officials for not providing enough jobs for them so that they can be meaningfully employed. He confidently said that there are plenty of opportunities for a youth to earn and those opportunities lie in the crust of the earth. John said that with so many farm lands available in Linden, no youth should be categorized as unemployed.
For those who may not be academically or vocationally inclined to secure them an office job, there is always the option of farming which does not require any qualification but allows you to make a decent earning. “It’s all about not being lazy and it’s only the lazy ones would complain, I started planting six years ago and now I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said. John said that he was not going to settle as just another statistic on the unemployment list but became self-employed and believes that all other unemployed youths should follow his footsteps.
For Christopher his day begins very early as he has over 100 acres of fruits and vegetables to take care of. After doing that, he then sells produce wholesale to retail vendors before setting up his own retail stall at the junction of West Watooka.
“As a farmer you have to plan ahead so when you wake up, you already know what you have to do or what you left off from the day before and continue on that…..because the cash crops you have to be on it every day to maintain them, all like pak choi you does got to be on it since like 5 in the morning,” he revealed.
Though the majority of vendors in Linden purchase from farmers out of the region who come to Linden by truck loads to sell their produce, Christopher said that he is not afraid of the competition as he is away from the rush. He has already earned the trust of many customers who would journey from Amelia’s Ward to purchase his crops because they are organic. He said that he will not switch from planting 100% organic even though it requires more time and more land. “When you planting organic you cannot use back the land. You have to find virgin land all the time. I plant organic because I use only organic so I want to give my customers what I eat,” he affirmed. John said that though he does not depend on the government for anything, he would suggest that they provide more equipment, seeds and training for young people who are interested in farming. “The most challenging thing is getting the seeds because there are expensive, so we need more recent seeds that we guaranteed will burst out.” In addition to the seeds, John said that the layers manure is also expensive as that is the only manure he uses to support his organic farming.
Despite these challenges, this young farmer is determined to continue plowing the land as he receives the fruits of his labour in full. “I wouldn’t give it up for anything, farming pays more than any Government work right now and I would encourage any young generation in Linden to get some land and farm and stop complaining that work not there”.