Anna Bridgelall and her farming ambitions
By Wendella Davidson
AS a young girl growing up in Speightland, an Amerindian community in Mackenzie, Anna Bridgelall always had a penchant for planting.
And so, while every family in the community, including her father, concentrated on planting the staple dish, cassava, Anna took a small portion of her family plot and started a kitchen garden to supplement the family needs. But then “as the times got hard”, this now 54-year-mother of six children and grandmother to 10, told the Pepperpot Magazine, that it was during that period that she “tried her hand” at selling some of the excess produce to other families in the community.

“I was surprised at how quickly the excess vegetables went off my hand,” she said, and bouyed by the success and the fact that “the little bit of money I got helped out”, Anna said she began planting in earnest and it was no longer just a hobby.
And as if luck was on her side, a team from Partners of the Americas visited the community to sensitise and assist interested residents on how to acquire a loan from the organisation to boost their respective farming venture, as well as, assist with some technical `know-how’.

At that time too, Anna was trying her hand at rearing pigs and the Partners representative discussed with her the idea of setting up as a bio-digester, so she can utilise the manure from the pig pen and convert it to gas. The knowledge that the gas can be can also be used for cooking got Anna excited.
And, even though Anna did not borrow the money from Partners, she was still able to set up her bio-digester, which brought even more success to her business. So successful is her venture that Anna is now cultivating lettuce and celery on a large scale in shade houses using the hydroponic method. She occupies less than acre of land for her business which now so established that she has regular customers in both the Linden and Wismar municipal markets, and also supplies some established food business with her produce. She boasts that her produce is grown using organic methods.

In addition to the initial Green House which measures 24 x 18 feet and is used as a nursery, this `dare to be bold’ woman farmer acquired a loan from the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and has constructed a larger Green House measuring 100 x 40 feet.
Declaring that “she is not afraid to try anything that can grow”, Anna has through the help of the Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Enterprises and Linkages (PROPEL), has embarked into a new area, that of growing onions. PROPEL is an organisation which seeks to strengthen agro-processing in Guyana and has been of tremendous help to the young farmers in terms of technical advice.

Said Anna, during her one on one with the Pepperpot Magazine: “I never thought that onions could grow in Guyana, so I am very excited. My first crop did not come out good, for lots of reasons including bad weather, but I am determined and with help from PROPEL I now have a second crop that, so far, is going well,” she said. In addition, she also rears ducks, sheep and cows on a small scale.
Anna, like the other farmers, Ayodele Sampson and Dextor Southwell, who were previously featured in the Pepperpot Magazine, has showered praises on PROPEL for their unwavering support and technical assistance.

Anna was born at Pourderoyen on the West Bank of Demerara to Eugenie DeFreitas and the late Pancham, but was schooled at Mackenzie Primary, Linden Foundation and Linden Technical Institute after her parents moved to live at Lot 126 Speightland, Mackenzie. She initially worked for about eight years with the Post Office before venturing out as a self-employed farmer and, according to her “I definitely have no regrets.” She wishes, though, that she can get another portion of land so she can further expand her business.